A New Year, A New Life, A New Love
by Kroqgar
Summary: Two beings, completely alone in their reality, are catapulted through an act of kindness into the Naruto world. How will they survive when their very appearances mark them out for persecution?
1. Everything Is Never As It Seems

**The Naruto universe is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.**

Twilight. The time of day where the lines are blurred. When night and day meld into one glorious fusion of bright and dark, where the stars chase the sun out of his domain.

Twilight. When reality blurs at the edges, and where the impossible becomes the improbable.

Twilight…the time when loneliness, when utter and complete loneliness, stalks the streets, looking for a victim.

Twilight. The time when loneliness, when utter and complete loneliness, very rarely succeeds.

**Chapter 1: ****Everything Is Never As It Seems**

Harry Parkinson sighed as he leaned against the counter. He hated the Wednesday shift. After four o'clock no one ever showed up. He wondered why the owners wasted money on electricity keeping the store open those three extra hours anyway. No one ever asked for his opinion.

The rain pounded down outside. This further irritated Harry. Usually he liked the rain, the sound of it drumming in sheets across the roof normally set his soul at ease, as it helped him to find that calm center that every human has. But whenever he was working at the locally owned convenience store that he so despised, the bright whiteness of the lights that thrust its way past his eyes and directly into the pain center of his brain always cancelled out the rain's soothing effects. He couldn't even look outside, and find his peace in the millions of short-but-well-lived raindrops that fell from the heavens to nourish the earth, as the recently installed floor to ceiling "window-walls" were completely covered in running water, courtesy of the owners not bothering to put any sort of covering or awning anywhere outside of the door. Thinking along this line caused Harry to grit his teeth in mild anger, as this lack of coverage usually meant that customers came in soaking wet on days like these, prompting him to work harder for the already small pay he received.

So caught up in his steadily darkening thoughts, Harry failed to notice the blurry figure approach the door from the pouring rain outside, or the beeping sound of the automatic doors opening, or even the brief but intense noise of the pounding rain outside. No, what really got his attention was the faint but noticeable sound of _dripping_. Water falling off of someone onto his clean, washed, _dry_ floors.

With a world-weary sigh, he focused his attention onto the person who had just walked into the small convenience store, idly wondering if it was going to be condoms or cigarettes, as it always was this time on a Wednesday.

"Hey there, how can I help...?" Harry trailed off as he got his first look at the costumer.

They were soaking wet, water dripping off drenched clothing onto the floor. He looked to be about six feet tall, an imposing enough sight already. He had slightly broad shoulders, but was not a large person. He seemed very thin actually, to Harry, but not dangerously so. He was wearing shoes so dirty that their make was undistinguishable, and ripped, muddy jeans that had had faded so much that if they were not dirty they would almost seem white. He was wearing a gray zip-up jumper with a hood, which was currently pulled up. On his hands he wore thick, black, woolen gloves, and Harry spared a quick thought of sympathy to the man who wore gloves in this heat.

But what really caught Harry's attention was the man's face. Or rather, the lack thereof.

Underneath the hood the man wore a very dark red bandanna over the bottom of his face, and a large, impenetrable pair of black sunglasses obscured the top half. The odd thing though, was how far out this bandanna came. The bottom of it was tucked into the jumper, but it seemed to protrude a good five or so inches from the man's face.

All of this information zipped through Harry's head quite quickly, in separate pieces. He then assembled them into the big picture. It was nearly nighttime, in a deserted late night store, and a masked man just walked in. No fool, and quite fond of living, Harry immediately but at a measured pace raised his hands into the air, whilst subtly moving his left leg so at a moments notice he could lift his knee and press the alarm button hidden there.

"Do not be afraid sir, I will not harm you unless you force me to".

This gave Harry pause. Not only were the words spoken with eloquence, but the man had a very measured and mellifluous voice. This was the voice of someone who would do bad things if he had to, but only if he had to.

"What do you want?" asked Harry, surprised at the calmness of his own tone. The demeanour of this man was not threatening, so he was surprisingly unafraid.

"I just want a loaf of bread. That's all. I don't want money, or conflict. But I don't have any money myself, so I am going to steal it," the man said, with surprising determination, "I have a knife, and will hurt you if I must, but I just want to get the bread and leave". And with that, the man walked over to the bread in the corner of the store, and grabbed one of the loaves.

While the man's back was turned to him, Harry had ample time to press the alarm hidden under the counter, and alert the police as to this theft. He felt sympathy for the man who clearly needed bread, but as his hand moved toward the button he thought that this could cost him his job that, irksome as it was, he needed. As his finger hovered over the button however, he saw the stranger bend over to pick up the bread, and in the moment the man's wet clothing clung to him, and Harry could clearly see his ribs standing out. This man was starving.

Harry was at heart a good guy, and it was this inner kindness that caused him to flick his hand back up in the air before the stranger turned around, and that caused him to do nothing as the stranger walked to the door, cast him one more glance over his shoulder, and sprint out into the rain and out of sight.

After his heart rate slowed down a little, Harry sat back down behind the counter. Dropping his head into his hands, he breathed a sigh of relief, and hoped the owner's wouldn't miss one loaf of bread. Idly he wondered why the man had a circular hole in his pants just below the waist.

...

The man cast one quick glance back at the convenience store through the driving rain from the space between two buildings across the street. With hearing far better than normal, he had heard the indecision of the shopkeeper, as his hand slipped towards what was undoubtedly an alarm beneath the counter, but he had not heard the distinct click of a button being pressed, which drew a smile onto his covered face. There was still good in the world.

Banishing such happy thoughts from his head, he turned his back on the light and sanctuary of the convenience store, and walked further into the shadows of the concrete jungle. As he trudged through the lightening rain, he glanced skywards. It was nearly dark now, the sun almost completely gone. Only then could he truly be himself.

The further he walked, loaf of bread clutched tightly to himself under the drenched jumper, the more run-down the area became. Street lights that were once bright and operational now didn't shine at all, if not broken or just completely gone. He had always wondered what someone would want with a street light. The buildings around him grew steadily more boarded-up-at-the-windows as he walked, and he had not seen another living soul for some time.

After a time the pitch darkness became even too much for his sharp eyesight in his dark sunglasses, and he took a cautious look around before removing them, and pulling both the hood and bandanna closer together, to hide everything except his eyes. Large eyes, with yellow irises.

He treaded further into this dilapidated area, always cautiously sticking to the shadows and the alleys, lest one lost person sound the alarm. Stealthily, he moved onwards until he came to a large, two story house. The house was crammed in between two other, larger buildings, and it had seen better days. The paint was long since gone, the wood beginning to sag from the weight of age. The windows were all boarded up, and the door was crisscrossed with two large planks of wood on which had been crudely painted "Abandoned". Peeking his head around the corner of the alley across the street he was hiding in, he took one last look around, before quickly sprinting across the street, and up the stairs of this run-down house. As he got to the door, he quickly removed the bottom half of it from place, pushing it backward into the house where it fell with an echoing thud. He squeezed himself around the wood, and quickly replaced the door behind him, once again leaving the illusion of an abandoned home to the world.

Once inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. Home.

He placed his prize, one slightly battered loaf of bread, on a small table just to the right of the door that he knew from long habit was there, even though he could barely see a thing. He pulled the gloves off his hands, grateful for the rush of air between his fingers. He placed them next to the bread on the table, and looked down at his hands in the dark. He could not make out any details, but he knew what he would see. Large hands, strong hands, capable of both crushing and caressing. Long, sensitive fingers. This was not why he wore gloves. He wore gloves because of the claws, short but sharp, that extended from the tips of his fingernail-less fingers. He wore gloves because of the covering of solid black fur on his hands. He wore gloves because he was different.

He unzipped his jumper, and shouldered it off, revealing a malnourished but impressive physique. Even though he was quite thin he seemed quite strong. The stained gray t-shirt he wore underneath did not cover the fur on his arms. With the hood covering his head gone, one could make out the black-furred triangular ears sitting almost proudly on top of his head. He hung the jumper on a hook protruding from the door behind him, not worrying about the water it dripped onto the floor. He bent over and removed his shoes, revealing feet covered in black fur, clawed like his hands, and placed the shoes to the side of the door to dry out in the patch of sunlight that appeared there through a small hole in the wall.

As he was reaching up to remove the bandanna from his face he reached out to the table with his other hand, and felt around before finding the object he needed. His finger closed around something oddly shaped, plastic and long, and he held it almost like a gun. With a click of his finger on the trigger, the cheap gas lighter sprang to life, barely illuminating his surroundings but bright as day for the sharp eyes of the being holding it. The light revealed a strong hand removing a dark red cloth, and beneath that cloth was this being's most startling feature. A long, straight, black-furred muzzle, tipped with a wet black nose. As the creature breathed a sigh of relief at being able to breathe easy again, sharp, white teeth were briefly visible. Almost as an afterthought, this creature loosened his jeans and lowered them slightly, and reached behind him. With a yank and a wince, then a quick look of relief, he then readjusted his pants and fastened them again. Not wishing to waste the gas in the lighter, he grabbed the bread and hurried off into the house. The wan light of the small flame revealed the black, furry tail of a wolf protruding from the hole in the back of his pants.

This beings name was Kroqgar (pronounced crock-gar) and he was sixteen years old. To all outward appearances, he was as much a large black wolf as he was a man.

...

He moved quickly through the house, not pausing to glance at the sparse furniture covered in dusty, mouldy blankets. He paused before a large, intact door, before turning to the brickwork on his right. He counted upwards and across from the doorknob, before stopping on a particular brick that looked the same as the rest. He reached up and with a few quick shakes removed it from its place, making sure to catch any falling dust or mortar. He reached into the hollow behind the brick, deposited the fallen debris there, and closed his fingers around a small, metal object. He replaced the brick before swiftly inserting the key into the lock of the door, and in one smooth, practiced motion unlocked and opened it, revealing a stairway and a light at the bottom. He stepped over the threshold, dousing the no-longer needed light, and closed and locked the door behind him, putting the key on a nail next to the door.

Kroqgar swiftly descended the stairs and turned right, going through a doorway into a small room, perhaps 25 meters square. Two thin mattresses were rolled up in the far corner, the illumination provided by a few candles sitting on a table against the left wall. Sitting on a dresser that had seen better days were a few odds and ends, a brush, some batteries, a bit of wire. That dresser held the clothing and most of the other worldly possessions of Kroqgar and his roommate. That roommate was currently standing in front of a clearly old but well taken care of sink, washing a few mismatched plates and cups, as well as some clothing. At the sound of the door to their little home closing, she turned around and smiled. She was his best friend and closest and only companion.

With the big smile he always got upon seeing her, Kroqgar waggled the bread in front of his face and said "Merry Christmas."

...

The roommate sighed to herself as she stood over the sink, slowly washing a plate over and over. She took care not to spill any of the slightly gray water on her once-bright-but-now-dulled pink t-shirt, or on her snug and worn pair of jeans, for she hated wet clothes. She stared down at her ugly reflection in the water. Kroqgar often told her she was beautiful, but she knew he was just saying it to make her feel better.

She was about five foot nine, so she was by no means short, but the six foot Kroqgar dwarfed her. And whereas he was solid black, from the tips of his ears to the tips of his toes, she had a bit more colour and variety. Along her back and arms, and on the top of her head, she was a fiery orange. However along her stomach and chest, as well as her jaw, underneath the top of her arms, and the inside of her thighs she was a soft, cream colour, almost a beige. She had a long muzzle, just like Kroqgar, but it was thinner and more feminine. A big and fluffy tail waved slowly behind her. The tips of her ears and tail, as well as a pair of markings that spiked down on either side of her muzzle were jet black.

She had a build that was the envy of most women, even if she was a little too thin from lack of food. She had a perfect figure, and curves in all the right places, but neither Kroqgar nor herself thought about that much.

Finally, her most distinctive feature, were her eyes. A bright, fiery, almost alive green, as if a fire danced within them (or at least it looked that way to Kroqgar). She always noticed that whenever he hadn't seen her for a while, her eyes were always the first thing he sought out, with that big goofy grin of his that always made her smile.

Her ears flicked on top of her head as she heard the door open, knowing it was him. She turned around to see Kroqgar, standing there with that big smile and a loaf of bread, wishing her a merry Christmas. With a small giggle, she threw herself into his waiting arms, and hugged him fiercely, feeling him do the same.

Her name was Whisper, and Kroqgar was the dearest thing in her heart. She couldn't imagine her life without him, and even if she didn't know it yet she was beginning to love him.

...

The days passed for Kroqgar and Whisper as they always had, even if they were a little hot because of the summer. They whiled away the time, talking with each other and playing simple games. On some nights, if it was really dark and quiet outside, they would both venture out to enjoy the air and the freedom. Right on the tail of Christmas New Year came again, as it always does. On this night Kroqgar and Whisper would damn the consequences, and leave the safety of their home to watch the fireworks light up the night sky, always appropriately covered up so no one would see them for what they were.

This year though, they were prepared. They had planned to sneak out on the night of December the 30th, and find an appropriate place to hide for the day so they could watch the fireworks at night, without having to worry about being seen by people. So it was that on Wednesday, the 30th of December they found themselves sneaking out of their house in the dead of night, both carrying some food to tide them over the next two days. Kroqgar was usually the one that went out to do things, and Whisper always wondered how he could stand it. The stifling clothes, the hindered breathing, the impaired vision, she disliked it all, even if she tolerated it. But it was worth it to see fireworks, especially with Kroqgar. She squeezed the hand that was leading her through the shadows, and he stopped and turned to her for a moment. His bandanna shifted on his muzzle, and she knew that he was smiling at her. Then he turned back, and they were away.

The spot Kroqgar found for them was glorious. It was an abandoned apartment block next to the river, due to be demolished in the New Year. On the roof of the building, it seemed that at one point there had been a garden, which was now overgrown. They followed a small path from the stairs to a padded bench, a wall behind it, two structures that looked like they could've been greenhouses at one point on either side, a canopy protruding from the wall behind them, leaving them completely covered on all sides and from above with an unobstructed view of the river in front of them. As they went undercover, they both removed the cloth from their faces. With a warm smile to Whisper, Kroqgar dropped down on the bench, only to have the rotting timbers give way beneath him and fall flat on his behind.

The befuddled and embarrassed look on his face would keep Whisper amused for weeks.

They spent the rest of the night investigating their rooftop sanctuary, and checking for anyone else. They bolted the door to the roof closed from the outside, so on the off chance someone came up here they couldn't get through, and Whisper made a surprising discovery of an apple tree growing in one of the greenhouses, it's branches soaring through the broken ceiling. They feasted on the old but sweet fruits, and lay there together under the stars for a while, watching the eastern sky slowly lighten. As fatigue began to take them, Kroqgar rolled out the mattress they had brought with them, and they both lay upon it, huddled together for warmth in the chilly pre-dawn. Whisper fell asleep first, wrapped in Kroqgars strong grip, her head against his chest listening to his heartbeat. As Kroqgar felt her relax in his arms, and heard her breathing slow, he looked down at her sleeping form. He often thought she was beautiful, but seeing her here now, held against him, illuminated only by the stars and the faintest hints of sunlight, he began to realize he was falling for her.

...

Whisper awoke late that day, just early enough to watch the sun finish its celestial journey one more time. As she woke, she wondered why her bed was high, oddly shaped, softer than usual, and moving. Wearily opening one eye, she realized that she was in fact lying on top of Kroqgar, her arms around his neck, and both of his around her.

"_He's so strong," _she thought, looking down on his sleeping form. Often during their lonelier days, when they only had each other for company, she would break down and cry at the utter loneliness of their predicament. Sure, they would both put on a brave face for the sake of the other, but Whisper knew that Kroqgar was as lonely as her, only having one person in the world that can even see you. But he never broke down, he never cried about it, and he was always there for her, offering his shoulder for her to cry on, holding her when she couldn't stand it. With a start, she realized that she would have likely killed herself if she didn't have his companionship.

But that wasn't the only strength he had. She also knew that, purely physically, he was very powerful. She couldn't imagine breathing if he was lying on her, yet he bore her burden without flinching. He had worked tirelessly to build and maintain their home, and once, when part of the ceiling collapsed on them, he had held up a wooden beam that must have weighed at least 150 kilograms while she had escaped.

With a start, she realized that she had begun gazing at his muscles through his thin t-shirt during her musings, and her ears suddenly flushed red and lay flat against her head in embarrassment. She gently got off him and wandered off to find a secluded place to use certain facilities, and fast.

Kroqgars eyes snapped open, and he sat up in alarm at this strange new environment. This wasn't his home. As panic was just beginning to clutch icy fingers to his heart, a very familiar scent found it's way into his nostrils, and he breathed deep. Whisper. She was here. That made everything ok.

In a flash of understanding, the previous nights travel came back to him, and memory returned in a rush.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kroqgar quickly got up; only to stagger a little as his body's need caught up to him. With a slightly faster than regular step he wandered around the rooftop, trying to find a place to use as a bathroom. He was sniffing for the scent he knew would be there, for Whisper always got up before him, and had to go to the toilet. He didn't want to double the amount of already gross and smelly spots on the rooftop. The scent grew stronger as he traveled around the side of one of the greenhouses.

"Whisper?" he called out softly, just as he was about to turn the corner. He didn't want to walk in on her, as had happened before, to extreme embarrassment for both. Not hearing any reply, he looked tentatively around the corner, then breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to do his business.

As he walked back to their temporary bedroom, he wondered where Whisper was, but did not worry about her. She could take care of herself. He decided to take a look over the side of the building, down at the river where all the fireworks where going to be had. And almost fell off the roof in shock.

The river was filled with dozens, maybe hundreds of boats, all floating there, almost filling the great channel. The skyscrapers and tall buildings across the river seemed to all have their lights on, winking at him in the distance. The banks of the river, the streets, and all the ground Kroqgar could see was covered by people. People talking, people walking around, people sitting down on blankets. Quickly, Kroqgar ducked down beneath the railing. It was unlikely that anyone would see him up here, but best not to take chances.

Briefly overwhelmed by the amount of people around, Kroqgar suddenly feared for Whisper. As if on cue, he heard her calling his name behind him, and quickly walked off to make sure she was ok.

As he turned a corner around some overgrown bushes, he saw her standing there. He smiled, as he always did, at seeing her. She in turn gave a small grin, as she saw his eyes flash to hers and drink them in, before he stepped forward.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You need to come look at this" she said, not fear, but…_ trepidation_ showing in her eyes. He could read her like a book, and this made him cautious. She turned and walked back towards the door to the lower levels of the building, and motioned for him to come to her. Silently, he walked forwards, and pressed his ear against the door as she requested.

He heard muffled voices coming from the other side.

He shot her an intense look, and she mouthed back to him with a smile and a placating gesture _"They don't know we're here". _

He relaxed somewhat, and went back to listening to the door. He heard lots of voices talking, seeming to be organizing something. He was debating with himself whether or not to go through and check it out when he noticed that Whisper had already unbolted the door and was slowly easing it open. With a smile at the adventurousness in her he followed her through the door and left it open behind him, in case a quick getaway was needed. They went down the stairs very carefully, wincing horribly and listening closely whenever they creaked, but it seemed that these people either didn't hear or didn't care.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw that the door in front of them was already very slightly open, and flashed each other a grin at their good fortune. Whisper darted forward and managed to get there before Kroqgar, who smiled endearingly at her impatience. As Whisper observed the new room before them, her eyes widened in shock.

The room was large, obviously a whole floor of the building, and in it were a dozen or so people, both men and women, all looking very busy. They were all wearing the same t-shirt, solid black, with some writing on the front that was unreadable from Whisper's distance. On the back there was a stylized image of the river and the bridge, with fireworks exploding in the sky, leaving fiery trails behind them. All these people seemed to be somehow involved with a large console sitting at the far end of the room that was open to the air. The console had a central screen, and buttons and dials surrounded the screen on both sides, stretching its two meter length.

Whisper moved to back away, to let Kroqgar look, but bumped into something as she backed out. She looked behind her and saw that Kroqgar had come up behind her, and leant over her to look through the barely open door as well. She realized that she was completely pressed against him, and quickly jerked forward, unable to stop the blush from spreading to her ears.

When Kroqgar felt her separate from him, he swiftly tensed up, then relaxed, oddly disappointed by the lack of contact. All thoughts along that line were quickly banished from his head however, when he gazed upon the contents of the room with a softly spoken "Woah…"

Whisper shivered as she felt the air from his statement flow over her.

As they watched the people inside the room seemed to finalize what they were doing at the console, and moved their work to connecting it with thick black wires to some machinery at the back of the room. Once that was done, they attached an odd thing to the front of the console, what just seemed to be a large amount of tubes, all pointing out toward the river. The myriad of tubes were all sitting on top of a large box placed in front of the console, but they were not high enough to impede the view of someone standing at the console.

"Kroqgar…I think this is where they control the fireworks for the whole show!" breathed Whisper excitedly.

Kroqgar looked down at her excitedly before whispering, "Come on! We don't wanna miss the this!" and retreating back up the stairs.

Once on the roof again, they propped their mattress up against the wall, so they could lean back against it, then fold it beneath themselves to lie on it. Kroqgar gave Whisper a smile before walking over to the bench that had shattered upon trying to sit on it. He ripped the still good padding off it, then returned it to the mattress, and padded their seats, so they could have extra comfort.

They settled themselves down side by side, and got ready to see the show. As they sat there, Whisper felt Kroqgar's hand grip her own, and she turned to see he was smiling at her. She smiled back.

As night truly fell they listened to the sounds of yet more people arriving far below, and gazed out at the faint stars. They heard more banging and talking, as well as the occasional shout, coming from beneath them, and knew that the fireworks were almost ready. Eventually they heard a shout, and they could easily distinguish the words that were said.

"Yeah, in a second! I just gotta put this antenna on the roof!" they heard the masculine voice say.

For a brief moment, their grip on each other's hands became crushing, as they both tensed up. Then in a whirl of action, Kroqgar was on his feet and yanking Whisper to hers.

"Whisper", he said quickly, "Hide over here and don't come out until I say it's ok" and with that he pushed her around the corner of one of the greenhouses, and out of sight of the door. She tried to call him back with piercing whispers, but he didn't listen. He walked over to the door, and leant against it, pushing his whole weight to make sure it didn't open.

Suddenly the handle of the door jiggled. Kroqgar and Whisper's eyes were both fixed on it, and they both heard the same voice say "Bloody thing's locked! Someone come up here and help me push it open!"

Kroqgar and Whisper almost cried out in relief as they remembered they had re-bolted the door behind them. They heard a feminine voice cry out "Don't worry about it, just hang it out one of the windows!" before they heard retreating footsteps on the stairs and grumbling.

Kroqgar let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and slumped against the door, feeling all the adrenaline leave his body. He laughed quietly. He then looked over at Whisper, and all the mirth in his eyes died upon seeing her. She was shaking with fear.

He got up and ran over to her, and took her into his arms. She didn't cry, nor say a word, but he could tell how shaken up she was. Slowly she raised her arms and hugged him back, her head slumping against him. He led her back to their temporary bed, and sat down with her, wrapping an arm around her. She dropped her head on his shoulder, and he rested his head on top of hers, to comfort her.

Whisper's mind had ground to a standstill. They had nearly been caught, they had so nearly been caught. It was only through blind luck they had escaped, Whisper having had the off-thought to bolt the door behind them. As she lay in Kroqgar's arms, slowly calming down, she was still very shaken up at the near miss.

Eventually the scufflings and muffled talking from below them quieted, and all they could hear was the crowd far below them.

Finally they heard the sound they had been waiting for, that of a person talking on a microphone. "Hello everybody, and welcome to the Brisbane New Year's Party 2009!" said the unfamiliar female voice. "We all came out here to see a show so let's get it started!"

Near deafening cheers rose from all around, and Kroqgar chuckled. Even Whisper started to smile, finally getting over her scare. And then the fireworks began.

Kroqgar and Whisper both just laid there, enjoying the closeness and the fantastic spectacle before them.

...

At almost midnight they began to hear strange noises coming from beneath them. Grunts and groans, murmurings of "Shit shit shit shit" and "oh, fuck". They ignored them for a time, but eventually their curiosity overwhelmed them, and the two got up to have a look at what was happening.

They silently treaded over to the door, slid it open ever-so-gently, then crept down the stairs. They came to the door at the bottom, and both peered through the gap.

...

Steve Hughs was in hell. Sure, he was doing what he loved, he had a fire in his heart that he had to let out, and his job let his inner pyromaniac shine through. I mean, who wouldn't want to control and operate fireworks? The NEW YEARS fireworks, no less! This was his dream job. He loved every second of it.

Or he would if he didn't have to goddamn _pee._

At first, as he stood there pressing button after button as they flashed up on the screen before him, he had thought he could just hold it in. He had done longer at movies before. But as the time crept by, and he drank more and more water to replenish the sweat the heat of the night and gunpowder was generating, the pressure on his bladder grew and grew. Eventually he had his legs crossed beneath him, barely keeping up with the instructions before him, murmuring "Oh shit" to himself over and over to distract himself. He only had a few minutes left, he only had to go till midnight, then the show was over. The trip to the nearest operational toilets from this high up in the building would take at least ten minutes.

Suddenly, his will snapped, and he began to frantically look around for a solution, cursing himself because he was going to miss the Midnight Flourish as it was called, the final big boom of fireworks. He saw his saviour then, what looked like a man standing at the back of the room in the shadows, peering through a door. He couldn't get a clear look at him, having to still focus attention on the screen in front of him, but he was his salvation!

"Mate! Please, for the love of God, come over here and do this for me for a few minutes! It's not too hard, just follow the instructions on the screen!" He saw the man at the back start, as well as someone else with him he hadn't noticed before, and they began to retreat.

In desperation Steve yelled out "NO! Please mate! I need to go, and if you don't cover me I'll lose my job, and never be able to work here again!"

He barely noticed the shadowy figure stop its swift retreat in his peripheral vision, and took this as an affirmative. Quickly keying in the next few commands, he took off out of the far door like a man possessed, yelling over his shoulder "Thanks mate I owe you one!"

Deep in their hearts, Kroqgar and Whisper were both good people. They were terrified when they realized the man had seen them, but could not ignore his heartfelt plea for aid once it occurred to them he didn't see them clearly enough to recognize them for what they were. When the man ran off, the simply stood there stunned for a second, before realizing that the console needed immediate attendance.

They both rushed over, and observed the console before them. It looked like an incredibly complex piece of machinery. They looked at the central screen, and saw a steadily dwindling list of commands, as each button pressed by that previous man was counted down to, then a firework or series of fireworks shot, then it started counting down to the next command.

"What the hell do we do?" blurted Kroqgar, "This thing is so complex!"

"I think we have to do what the screen says…look, it has a list of the next commands!" said Whisper, the light from the screen bathing her face and being reflected in her eyes.

"It says here we press E-12, then S-1 through 7" said Kroqgar, "And look here, each of the buttons has a label next to it…. Here's E-12!" He swiftly pressed one clawed finger down on the button, and they saw the command on the screen move from the list of upcoming commands to the commands in progress. It seemed there was limited room in the commands in progress menu, so only so many could be put in at one time.

"Look!" said Whisper, pointing at the buttons. "It's a grid! Along the top are the letters, and along the side are the numbers." She ran her finger along the top of the console as she spoke, showing the letters A to Z, then along the side, showing the numbers 1 to 12.

Now that they had figured out the machine, keeping up with the commands was easy, and they even began to enjoy it, watching the fireworks they themselves controlled burst into a thousand tear drops of light in the night sky, hearing the appreciative "ooh"s and "aah"s from the crowd.

At four minutes to midnight, the song chosen by popular vote to be the song to ring in the new year was chosen, and after a brief pause, the first notes began to boom out from the massive, strategically placed speakers all around the river.

Kroqgar and Whisper didn't get to listen to music much, so the song was new to them. Kroqgar began to bob his head subtly up and down unconsciously, enjoying the song. Whisper went a little misty-eyed, and started smiling. "This is beautiful," she said softly.

"_You would not believe your eyes  
__If ten million fireflies  
__Lit up the world as I fell asleep"_

They kept up with the fireworks easily, always listening out for the surprise return of the man from earlier, just in case. Whisper saw that Kroqgar had the commands easily in hand, so she slowly backed up from the console and began to dance.

"_I'd like to make myself believe  
__That planet Earth turns slowly  
__It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep  
_'_Cause everything is never as it seems"_

She lost herself in the music, dancing slowly back and forth, enjoying every minute of it. She rarely danced, but she always enjoyed herself when she did.

Thirty seconds before the countdown to 2010 was due to start, Kroqgar happened to glance back at Whisper, whom he'd just assumed was taking a break. His breath caught in his throat.

She was dancing, moving back and forth in a graceful fusion of skill and power, illuminated by the bursts of colour from the fireworks, and seemingly in complete sync with the essence of the song itself. Without even turning around he keyed in the last, fantastic part of the fireworks show. Whisper opened her eyes, and their gaze met. When he looked into those eyes, those eyes that almost seemed to be laughing in exultant triumph of life, he realized he loved her.

"_But I'll know where several are  
__If my dreams get real bizarre  
_'_Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar"_

Suddenly she looked concerned. "Kroq, what's that light?"

"_I'd like to make myself believe  
__That planet Earth turns slowly"_

He looked down at the screen, and noticed it was flashing red. Whisper hurried to his side and they both read the large message flashing up.

"WARNING. OVERRIDE ACTIVATED. ALL LAUNCHING CHUTES SHUT OFF."

"_It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep  
_'_Cause everything is never as it seems"_

"What…what does that mean?" asked Kroqgar.

"I think it means that no fireworks can't be shot out," said Whisper, with an utterly blank expression on her face.

"But…but all these finishing fireworks are set to launch. And they are still counting down, look!" Kroqgar replied, the faintest touch of fear in his voice.

With the utter impassiveness that lies beyond fear Whisper murmured "Oh yes, they are still going to fire. They are just not going to launch."

In that moment four things happened. The crowd outside started counting down from 10, the song built to a climax, the fireworks were set alight, and the full implications of what was about to happen crashed down on both of them.

_"I'd like to make myself believe"_

"TEN!! NINE!! EIGHT!!"

With a slight sizzle and a sharp crack, a blinding white light shot forth from the fireworks housing, encompassing both of the terrified companions.

_"That planet Earth turns slowly"_

"SEVEN!! SIX!! FIVE!!"

Kroqgar and Whisper opened their eyes to find themselves inside a spinning, crackling sphere of white energy. It was moving faster and faster around them, and getting smaller and smaller, contracting towards them.

_"It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep"_

"FOUR!!! THREE!!!"

They backed further and further together, terrified beyond words, eyes almost blinded, senses overwhelmed by what was happening. When they backed into each other they both whirled around, completely panicked, and they both saw the fear in the others eyes. In that moment time slowed down, and everything seemed to stop for a moment. As if on cue they both stepped forward and into the arms of the other.

"'_Cause everything is never as it seems"_

"TWO!!! ONE!!!!"

Looking into each other's eyes, ignoring the lunacy swirling about them, they focused only on each other, anchouring themselves to sanity through the other. A happy look crossed Whisper's features.

"Happy New Year," she said, so softly Kroqgar almost didn't catch it.

In that moment, in that last desperate moment, as the sphere closed in around them, Kroqgar leaned in and kissed her.

As the swirling sphere of energy suddenly disappeared, it left behind no trace of it's coming.

"_I'd like to make myself believe  
__That planet Earth turns slowly  
__It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep  
__Because my dreams are bursting at the seams…"_

Sunlight. It was day, and it was sunny.

This was the first thing to occur to Whisper as she slowly swam out of the miasmic haze of dreaming and towards the distant shores of full consciousness. She felt warm and secure, which was incredibly rare for her. Being what she was, security was a rarely felt sensation. And there was a dull thumping, that seemed to be getting louder.

Fighting for every step of the way, Whisper struggled to fully awaken. She didn't know why, but something was wrong, and she had to be alert…

As her eyes slowly opened, a bright blue and green blur appeared above her, spearing right through her eyes and into the pain center of her brain. She immediately snapped them shut, and groaned, sluggishly lifting a hand to cover her eyes from the offending light.

Or at least she tried. Something was holding her hands down. This time angling her head downwards, she again slowly opened her eyes, and the sight immediately put her at ease. She was wrapped in Kroqgars arms, and the thumping sound she could hear was that of his own heart, beating away. He was still asleep, his chest rising and falling in time with his breathing. Gazing down at his sleeping form, Whisper couldn't help but smile. She loved him, and she knew it. He was always there for her, he was her rock, and without him she would have been lost long ago.

So as not to wake him, she gently eased her way out of his arms, and stood up, stretching her arms far above her head, and flexing all her muscles to work out the tension, squeezing her eyes shut. She took care to not give Kroqgar a case of tail-face. As she stood there, wrapped up in the pleasure of feeling all her muscles scream out in pleasured pain, she raised her head towards the bright sunlight, feeling it warm and comfort her.

And her eyes snapped open. Sunlight. Fresh, cool air. This was not as it should be. She quickly looked around her. They were surrounded by trees on all sides, not densely, but enough to be comfortable. There was a springy layer of grass, and the sun warmed the area to a very pleasant temperature.

Suddenly feeling incredibly afraid at these strange new surroundings, Whisper crouched down beside Kroqgar and shook him awake.

"Kroqgar!" she whispered, "Kroq!"

His eyes almost immediately opened, and he snapped forward into a sitting position, scanning the area around them with all his senses. He had heard the alarm in her voice and mistook it for an immediate threat. Unable to find anything malevolent in his surroundings, he swiftly rose and continued to look around the area, tension and alertness showing in every line of his body. He had not even paused to wonder where they were, or at their strange new surroundings, so focused was he on finding what had caused Whisper such distress.

She took his arm and spun him around to face her. "Calm down, there isn't anything here that wants to hurt us. I just don't know where we are… I can't even remember what happened…" she trailed off as a far-off look came over her face. "We were on top of that building watching the fireworks, then…then…"

A thoughtful look gracing his own features, brow furrowed in concentration and eyes on the ground, Kroqgar said, "Then we went down and started working the fireworks ourselves…"

"Oh yeah!"

"And then…then a song came on?" He didn't sound too sure of himself.

"Yeah! A song started playing, they…they chose it for the New Year song or something, I can't remember what it was…"

"And then you started dancing," he said, looking at her with a big smile.

She gave a small giggle (it was music to his ears) and agreed. Then her smile faded, and a little bit of the light in her eyes dimmed.

"Then the fireworks machine broke down, and an override was turned on, or something," she breathed, looking down at the ground.

"Yeah, and it...it went off… and there was that light!" he said, wincing at the painful ocular memory.

"Of course, there was that energy around us!" Whisper agreed eagerly, happy they were piecing the memory back together. They didn't seem dead, and if they were, this didn't seem like a bad place, so she was getting over her brief sadness. "And just as it was about to close on us, we turned around, and then we-" she broke off, a look of alarm crossing her features as her eyes suddenly flushed bright red. Kroqgar looked at her oddly for a second, then his own eyes shot wide open, and even through his black fur she could see the red tinge on his ears.

In a pathetically transparent attempt at changing the subject, Kroqgar turned away from Whisper and looked at their surroundings.

"So uhhh, w-where are we now?" he asked, voice cracking almost unnoticeably. He looked around at the peaceful trees around him, bathed in the bright sunshine and swaying gently in the breeze.

"I have no idea. We were in Brisbane, and when I woke up we were here," she said, puzzlement showing in the frown on her face.

"Look!" Kroqgar exclaimed, pointing with one clawed finger through the trees. Whisper followed his gaze and saw something that she had missed in her initial shock. She grew quickly excited that they were not alone in this world.

"A road!"

They both ran through the trees and burst out into full sunlight on the road, seeing it stretch away on both sides of them. Now they got a good look at their surroundings.

The road led off to their left, going slightly down hill and leading off into the horizon, forest bordering it on both sides. They saw a couple of buildings dotting the roadside, and their architecture looked strange, but from this distance even for their sharp eyes it was impossible to discern why. They could barely make out movement around the buildings, so they now had proof of life in this new world.

Behind them they saw that the forest led into tall, jagged mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see. The road sloped uphill to their right.

"I think we should go right, you know, get the high ground," said Kroqgar glancing at Whisper for her reaction. She nodded in the affirmative and they both set off. As they walked along Whisper slipped her hand into Kroqgars. In a wordless response he gripped hers tight. She smiled broadly.

As they climbed the road, heading for the top of the hill it was on, they began to hear a distinctive sound. The low murmuring of many voices, as if a large crowd lay just over the hill. With a worried glance at one another, they both picked up the pace.

The sound of civilization increased as they approached the top of the hill, until finally they stood at its top, and stared down in absolute amazement and utter bewilderment at the scene before them, giving them reason to doubt their own sanity.

Before them the road led down into a massive gate, and disappeared into a large city beyond it. The city was completely encircled by a massive wall, in the shape of a circle. They saw hundreds, maybe thousands of buildings within the walls, all with people bustling back and forth going about their daily activities. The road they were walking along now led through the city like a main thoroughfare, leading all the way up to a massive structure near some cliffs at the very back of the city. Prominently displayed on the front of the building was a kanji that looked like a lower case "h" with an apostrophe on either side.

Both Kroqgar and Whisper knew this symbol well.

But the thing that really and truly got their attention was the massive cliff face that the village backed on to. On this cliff face were four gargantuan faces, gazing out watchfully over the village. The face on the far left wore some sort of head covering, the one next to that wore what seemed to be some sort of forehead covering. To the right of that there was an intelligent looking face with a goatee, and the last face seemed the most youthful, with hair that seemed wild even carved out of rock.

Whisper couldn't even begin to comprehend what she was seeing. It was unfathomable. It was unreal. It was un…possible. But it was…. It was….

Kroqgar gave voice to her unfinished thought with an utterly stunned and completely bewildered look on his face.

"Konoha?!"

* * *

There it is ladies and germs, chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed it. I've already started work on chapter 2, and it should be up in a couple days. Couple things to say.

1. The song Fireflies is the property of Owl City, I would've said this at the start but I didn't wanna ruin the surprise.

2. I don't have a great amount of Naruto knowledge, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do, try and conform to the story, or go off on my own. Probably a bit of both. Any ideas anyone has, any thoughts or comments are all incredibly welcome. I havn't written in a while, so I need to know if I still got the stuff, or if what I think is awesome turns out to be crap. Thanks for reading!


	2. This Is Way Too Real

**Chapter 2:**** This Is Way Too Real**

"This…this is The Village Hidden in the Leaves…" breathed Whisper, dumbstruck.

"Hang on, that's not possible," said Kroqgar, ever the realist, "This is Naruto. Naruto is a cartoon, we've both read it. This can't be real."

Years ago, when checking in one of the bins they both knew to often contain edible food, Kroqgar had found a garbage bag full of books. These were a rare and delightful find, keeping them both entertained for hours on end. He had immediately lugged them home to Whisper, and while going through the written riches came across several odd little books with the covers on back to front, all sporting the word "NARUTO" and often a rather rambunctious looking young boy with bright yellow hair, blue eyes and an eyesore of a jumpsuit.

At first they couldn't even begin to make sense of the odd books and their drawings, but once they figured out to read back to front they were caught up in a spellbinding world of love and loss, hope and friendship, sacrifice and valour. They laughed at the antics of Might Guy, they rolled their eyes at Naruto's wasted efforts on Sakura, and they shivered at the disgusting plans of Orochimaru. Once they read through all their precious tomes they felt a hunger that had nothing to do with food. From then on, Kroqgar took risks far beyond acceptable to keep them up to date with the latest in the Naruto world, once even venturing into a crowded store to sneak out minutes later with a book under his jacket. They had read all the books cover to cover repeatedly, and both had an encyclopedic knowledge of Naruto.

This was how they both knew that the First Hokage's name was Hashirama, the Third Hokage was also known as The Professor, that the Fourth Hokage died fighting the Kyuubi, and that they were both vividly hallucinating.

Incapable of asking anything more sensible, Kroqgar haltingly enquired "Are…are w- are we dreaming?" He turned to her, one eyebrow raised, and saw that Whisper looked as befuddled as he.

She turned her head to face him for a moment, then raised it and looked into the sun. Her eyes stung as she beheld the bright orb. She felt the earth beneath her feet, and she felt the wind blowing over her skin and through her fur. She lifted up her foot and examined the footprint the worn sole of her shoe left in the dirt, and saw the dirt clinging to it. "No…we couldn't be, this is all way too real," she said, with a thoughtful look on her face, "This is happening. Whatever this is, it is happening."

Catching on to her attitude of calm, analytical observation, Kroqgar considered what he knew of Naruto. Taking Whisper's hand (and feeling the smallest jolts of electricity run up his arm upon contact) Kroqgar began to lead Whisper off the road and back into the forest.

"Come on," he said, "We've got to go think. And hide"

"Hide? Why?"

Not even looking back as he walked over the soft grass, Kroqgar responded, "Because even if this is the Naruto world, we are still… different." He said the last with a slightly pained expression on his face. Neither of them had ever truly come to terms with their appearance. "They may be more likely to accept us here, but we are still different."

They came across a small, sunlit clearing. Kroqgar walked into it, and plopped himself down on an old fallen tree, just beginning to rot, back arched and hands clasped before him. Whisper swiftly raised a hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle despite the circumstances at the memory of the last time he sat upon rotting timber. Shooting her a look that clearly said _"You can't be serious"_, Kroqgar leant over and picked up a small pebble at his feet. He lobbed it at her in a gesture of friendly irritation. She watched it coming with a big smile on her face.

The smile quickly faded to a look of absolute shock as the small stone approached her at a fantastic speed. She shifted her weight and pushed off with her right foot, leaping to the side. As she saw hard earth approaching her she instinctively placed her hands forward and on the ground, thrusting her body forwards. She flipped over and pushed off, launching herself into the air, and landed an instant later in a crouch, still moving, her feet digging small channels in the earth beneath her as she skidded to a stop.

She raised her head just in time to see the small pebble disappear from her sight in a flurry of wood splinters in the general direction of the village. Kroqgar, not having to avoid the killer pebble, had the honour of seeing first-hand the destruction the stone caused. His eyes had widened upon seeing the small rock's incredible acceleration, and for the briefest of instants he was intensely worried about Whisper. She had become a blur as she evaded the stone, but he found that he could follow her movements quite easily out of the corner of his eye. The stone itself flew on past her, and slammed into the trunk of a gnarled, stout tree at the edge of the clearing. It passed right through the tree, leaving wood and bark flying in its wake. The pebble continued on, passing through several more trees as if they weren't even there, before disappearing into the shadows of the forest and passing out of sight.

Kroqgar just sat there, wide-eyed, staring, as from the first of the trees there emitted a sharp crack. With a long groan, the tree started leaning from the point of impact. The tree creaked mightily as it finally came crashing to the forest floor with a deafening boom. Kroqgar did not even flinch as his gaze followed the tree to the floor. The deafening silence that followed was only broken by cracking noises emanating from the other trees along the pebble's trajectory. With a mighty racket of their own each of the trees fell to the forest floor, throwing twigs and leaves everywhere, birds erupting from the canopy in every direction.

Kroqgar felt an insistent tugging on his arm. He finally tore his gaze away from the destruction before him, to see Whisper pulling on his arm, trying to get him to stand to move. He realized she was trying to speak.

"Come on! Come ON! We've got to go! Now! MOVE!" She was frantic, alarm in her eyes.

Staggering to his feet, still dizzy from the demolition he had just caused, Kroqgar was slow on the uptake.

"What? Why? Why do we have to go?"

"Because they would've heard that for miles around! They'll be investigating this area soon! They _can't see us! _We have to go!" Whisper was almost crying from alarm and fear, and seeing her in that state is what truly snapped Kroqgar out of his daze.

Eyes focusing in newfound awareness, Kroqgar allowed Whisper to lead him out of the clearing and into the trees.

…

Whisper could barely see through the unshed tears in her eyes. She was panic-stricken at the thought of being found, being captured, being _seen_. The thought that she would be treated fairly despite her appearance was beyond her ability to comprehend, and it was not difficult to surmise that the stress of the past few hours may have been affecting her.

She gripped Kroqgar's hand tight as a vice as she led him into the woods. She ran as fast as she could, knowing the speed that the beings of this world were capable of. She was so caught up in the whirling vortex of her thoughts, worries spinning faster and faster in her head, that she failed to notice just how fast she was going. The trees flashed by her, the grass nothing but a green blur beneath her feet. She failed to hear Kroqgar crying her name over and over, diminished as the sound was by the wind rushing around her ears.

She still had the presence of mind to keep them near the village, their only landmark, traveling in a great arch through the forest. When she began to feel the first touch of hyperventilation upon her lungs, she slowed to a halt, the hand clasping hers a beacon of calm in the maelstrom of her thoughts. The tears started flowing then, and she started sobbing into her hands, her body racking with each one. She felt her hands pulled away from her face, and suddenly she was wrapped in Kroqgars arms, her head resting against his shoulder, tears staining his already filthy shirt. She clasped her arms around his neck, and felt his hands rubbing her back, soothing and calming her.

They stood there for some time, as Whisper gradually stopped crying and her breathing returned to normal. She felt warm and cared for in Kroqgars arms, feeling and hearing the steady thumping of his heart, the soft caress of his fingers rubbing up and down her back. Eventually her ears rose from their position flat against her head, and her tail began to wave slowly behind her. It was impossible to feel anything except happiness when she was wrapped in his arms.

Leaning back, she raised her head and looked into his eyes. He lowered his head, and a big, comforting smile drew its way across his features. They stood there for a brief moment, gazing into each other's eyes, before Kroqgar cleared his throat and backed away. Whisper, her ears pink, suddenly found her new surroundings very interesting. Trees surrounded them, a small open area before them with a canopy of leaves overhead keeping it in shadow. An old, overgrown boulder stood to the side.

"Ok, this crap is crazy," said Kroqgar, flopping down on the grass and spreading his legs out in front of him, "First I throw that…that… and bring those trees down. Then you can move like you did, flipping and stuff. And now this!" He looked frazzled.

"And now what?" asked Whisper, shooting him an enquiring look.

"Well, this! Coming here! It was crazy!"

"What was, what was crazy?" Whisper looked heartily confused now.

Looking up at her like she had sprouted a second and third head, Kroqgar asked, "You didn't see how we got here, did you?"

"Well…we ran, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but…Whisper, run to that tree." He stood, pointing to a large tree past the confines of their small space, some twenty meters away.

"What?" replied Whisper, with a laugh.

"Run to that tree," he repeated, dead serious.

"O….K…" she said, not understanding, but she trusted him completely. "How fast?"

"Just at a good pace. Ok? Now on 3. Ready? 1… 2… **3**!"

She burst out of her slight crouch and a moment later placed her hand on the tree. She barely stopped herself from continuing on to run head-first into it. She turned her head to face Kroqgar, eyes wide and shining, mouth hanging open.

She had cleared the 20 meters in an instant.

Kroqgar returned her gaze with a smile. "Toldja."

"We _ran_ here that fast!?"

"Yup."

"But…but…this is all CRAZY! How could you throw that rock? How could I _dodge_ it? And how _the fuck_ can we run that fast?!"

Kroqgar blinked in surprise. Neither of them swore that much, but Whisper was by far the lesser swearer of the two.

"I have a theory," he said, rising from the ground. Dusting himself off, he answered Whisper's raised eyebrow. "Well… considering that we are in the Naruto world, I mean, that's pretty much as crazy as it gets. It wouldn't be too insane to assume that we have… well, that we have ninja powers."

Whisper stared at him blankly for a moment, then shook her head and said "Excuse me, I just hallucinated for a moment. What'd you say?"

Kroqgar flashed her a smile as he passed by her. "You heard me. And there is an easy way to find out."

He stopped before the boulder. Flashing one last glance at her over his shoulder, Kroqgar focused on the stone. It was quite large, shaped roughly like an oval, perhaps six meters long. He reasoned that at his normal strength he would be unlikely to even budge it. He stood there a moment, broad shoulders slightly hunched, tensing and relaxing his arms. Finally he crouched down, and dug his fingers under the stone as best he could. He took care to keep his tail out from under him, lest he get it caught beneath himself. Finally he drew a deep breath, and, straight-backed, began attempting to lift the great stone.

A strange look passed over his features, and he glanced back at Whisper. Then he began to laugh. Softly at first, he slowly laughed harder and harder. Soon tears were streaming out of his eyes and wetting the fur on his cheeks. His whole body heaved as he tried to draw more air into his lungs, so that his mirth could continue.

Whisper, fearing for his sanity, asked "Kroqgar? What is it? What's so funny?"

Giving her another look, still laughing, Kroqgar turned back to the stone. With one smooth, easy movement, he raised the stone out of the earth and above his head. As moss and earth showered down Kroqgar's laughter never faltered.

Kroqgar's laughter seemed infectious. As Whisper watched him stand there, a multi-ton boulder above his head, she started to titter. Then she progressed onwards to giggling. Soon she was laughing as hard as he was, clutching her sides as she cried tears of mirth. After some time she looked up to notice that Kroqgar had calmed down to the occasional chuckle. He seemed to be gesturing to her with the stone. He lowered one hand, easily balancing the boulder in his other, and gestured her forwards.

As she moved towards him, he lowered the stone in his arm, fingers gouging slightly into the stone to keep his grip. She then stood directly before him, and stretched out her arms, as he lowered the stone onto them. He took care not to just drop it on her; on the off chance that she did not have his strength. She slowly felt the weight of the great object settle onto her arms.

Their laughter began anew as she too lifted the stone above her head, lifting it as easily as one would lift a small child.

…

Some time later the two were to be found lying next to each other in the shade, the evidence of time well spent strewn around them. Grass was strewn about the small space, with several deep depressions in the earth around them. Trees, some quite large, were felled and broken around them, and judging by the amount of jagged timber and broken wood around them at least one had been utterly shattered. What one couldn't tell by looking was that Kroqgar and Whisper had raced each other around the village, then a rematch, then a re-rematch and so on. They had both traveled many dozens of miles, yet not only did no sweat mat their fur, not only did their lungs labour for air, their heart rates had not even increased.

Both were giddy with excitement. They could cover hundreds of meters in seconds, they were both unfathomably strong, though they had found that of the two of them, Whisper was the faster whilst Kroqgar was the stronger. They stretched out under the canopy together, chatting about their new abilities and considering the many ridiculous things they could do, laughing at some of the more outlandish ideas.

After a time, Kroqgar suddenly sat up, getting Whisper's attention.

"Whisper, since we can do all this… ninja stuff," he said, with a vague wave of his hand, "Do you think we can use chakra?"

No doubt that mere hours ago Whisper would have laughed at the suggestion, but now she gave it some thought, before sitting up himself.

Turning to him with a grin she said "There is only one way to find out. Which Jutsu should we try?"

Thinking back over what he knew of Naruto, Kroqgar said, "I think we should try the Clone Jutsu. It's one of the easiest in the books, and they have to do it to graduate from the academy."

With a nod, Whisper replied, "Ok."

Brow furrowing, Kroqgar wondered, "Now, what was the hand sign we need to make again…"

After a brief moment of thought, the answer came to Whisper. She gave a small start of surprise as it did, for the feel of remembering the information was different. Her brain seemed to thrum as the knowledge was almost drawn out of it, like pulling an object from mud. The memory came, but only grudgingly. Suddenly, it seemed as if a dam broke loose in her mind, and she was flooded, inundated with information. She saw scenes and images flash through her mind's eye, multiple copies of herself, combat after combat, herself standing there, fingers entwined in odd formations, disappearing in puffs of smoke, throwing shuriken and kunai.

Her brain felt as if electricity was running along every nerve, lighting them up, frying them, and healing them all at the same time. Sensations and muscle memories, not her own, flooded her body from ears to toes, and her whole body felt as if being pricked by needles for a moment. Suddenly, a white light shot past her eyes, then expanded to cover her vision, blinding her. She screwed her eyes shut as pain exploded in her head, and with a cry clasped her hands to either side of it and fell back onto the grass.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and her surroundings faded from white to the cool greenness of the trees. She lowered her hands from the sides of her head, breathing heavily. She turned her head and saw that Kroqgar was faring no better than her, eyes screwed shut and panting.

They took a moment to catch their breath, then sat up and looked at each other.

"Did you just feel…?" asked Kroqgar.

"Yeah…"

"And it was like…?"

"Yeah…"

"And then you just…"

"I know…"

Their gaze met. As if on cue, they both steepled their fingers before them, the index and middle fingers of their left hand pressed against their opposite palm, tips reaching the first knuckles of their opposing numbers. The two other fingers were curved inwards, with the right hand being a mirror image of the first.

"Clone Jutsu!" they yelled in unison. Right beside each of them there was a small explosion of smoke, and the grass in the space rippled. When the smoke cleared, sitting next to them in an exact replica of their own poses, were two clones. They stared at each other for a moment, the originals and the illusions, for some time. Eventually, the two illusions looked at each other, then turned to their creators and said "Uh….hi."

In a puff of smoke, the two clones were dismissed with a thought from their creators. Said creators proceeded to leap to their feet with great shouts of joy, hugging and dancing around, ecstatic, at the thought of using chakra. They copied their earlier hand signs and made many more clones, each as ecstatic at the originals. The clearing was soon filled with smoke and shouts, laughter and cheering, as the two continued to test their newfound abilities. As they calmed down, they both decided not to try and go all out, for they did not know their capabilities. They could make hundreds of clones for all they knew.

They came back together to discuss their next move.

"I think we should go to the village. Go to the Hokage, whoever it is, Sarutobi or Tsunade, tell them everything. Where we come from, that this is basically a cartoon, that we seem to have this… knowledge of all the ninja stuff, everything" said Whisper.

"Good plan", said Kroqgar, nodding his assent, "But we shouldn't tell them anything about the…future, I guess it would be. I don't think it is a good idea to mess with the timeline, cos we all know how that usually turns out." Whisper nodded in approval. They had both read enough books about time travel to know that messing with time was just a bad idea.

"All right…so, into the village", said Whisper, as a smile spread across her face. "Into Konoha!" She got up and dusted herself off, and began to walk in the direction of the gates.

"Uhhhh…Whisper?" she heard a voice say behind her, and turned to see Kroqgar smiling up at her, still on the ground. "Forgetting something?"

She gave him a quizzical look, and thought for a moment. She couldn't think of anything.

"What is it?"

"Take a look at your hands", he said.

She raised her hands before her. They looked the same as they always did. Slightly small, with long elegant fingers, all covered in fiery orange fur. It took a moment to come to her.

"Ahhh… we are still…us" she said, grimacing.

Kroqgar rose from his seat, brushing at his backside. "Thankfully", he said, "That is no longer a problem." He smiled at her and made the same hand sign he had made before, Whisper recognized it as the Ram hand sign. "Transformation Jutsu!"

He disappeared in a puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared, Whisper saw what Kroqgar had changed into. She stared, and her jaw dropped.

He had changed into a normal person.

He still stood tall, two meters even. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, his form easily filling out his ragged clothes. He was clean-shaven, with a chiseled jaw line. His hair was dark blonde, with bright highlights. It was shoulder-length, slightly wavy, and seemed to be flat on one side and stick out the other. Fully extended, his fringe likely would've covered his eyes, but it was brushed to the side. His eyes were now an odd mixture of green and blue.

He stared down at himself, feeling his own hands and flexing his muscles. He raised his gaze to meet hers. With a big smile, he asked, "Would you care to join me?"

Getting over her own shock, Whisper, with the ease born of hours upon hours of practice, made the same hand sign, and said "Transformation Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, Kroqgar laughed upon seeing her. "You look like Sakura's long lost cousin!"

She was the same height and build, but that was where the similarity ended. She now had perfect, pale skin that almost seemed to glow. Her hair was now bright pink, though a shade or two darker than Sakura's, and rose almost like Kakashi's, though in much more defined spikes. She had high cheekbones, and full lips. All in all, she was what most would consider the perfect female form. She had kept her eyes though, her living, dancing green eyes, and they seemed to sparkle in her new face.

She did the same as Kroqgar, examining and prodding her new body in fascination. She raised her head and saw that he was smiling at her. She smiled back.

…

Kotetsu Hagane sighed. Although he would never admit it to his partner Izumo, he liked this job, but guarding the gates of Konoha could get remarkably boring.

He leaned back in his chair in the small booth next to the massive gates, and propped his feet up on the bench before him. Izumo sat next to him, hunched over and completing paperwork. He scratched at the bandage going over the bridge of his nose. It was getting itchy. He'd have to wash it again soon.

At first he'd chafed at this job, both outwardly and inwardly. He had liked his previous job, messing with the genins and assisting with ninja trials and training. When Tsunade had become Hokage and reassigned them, he had grumbled for days on end about the odd jobs she was forcing him to do, in her first days even fobbing off some of her paperwork. Over time he had grown used to this job however, putting some of his personal effects in the small booth, enjoying the feel of being almost surrounded by forest, even, he mused with a grin, eventually imprinting his backside into his chair.

What he most enjoyed though was the meeting of all the people that came through, catching up with old friends in their comings and goings, hearing the news of what was happening both inside and outside the village before most anyone else did. He was a people-person, deep down, and this job was exactly what he loved.

He jerked his eyes open. With a surprised blink, he realized that the combination of nothing to do, no one going by, and a surprisingly comfortable position in his chair had almost caused him to fall asleep. He stood slowly, the movement causing Izumo to glance up at him, and stretched his arms above his head, eyes screwing shut as he yawned mightily. A few days ago he would've just let sleep take him, but ever since Tsunade had turned up unannounced one day to get the roster of comings and goings in the village only to find him snoozing on the job he had learned a bit of humility. _"I still can't sit down properly_", he thought with a wince.

As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he saw the silhouettes of two figures moving towards the village from the horizon. He nudged Izumo next to him, gesturing in the direction of the two newcomers. Izumo looked at him to see what the problem was, then followed his gaze to the two coming towards them, walking down the slight slope.

He asked "You want me to, or…?"

"Nah, I got it," replied Kotetsu.

He stepped out of the booth, and saw the smaller of the two figures point him out to the larger. Their path changed slightly as they seemed now to be heading towards Kotetsu, not the village in general. As they got closer, he began to make out details. The large one was even bigger up close, towering over Kotetsu. He seemed particularly muscly as well. He wore odd clothing, what seemed to be a very old, very dirty, gray t-shirt of indeterminable cloth, and long pants that reached his ankles, that looked as if they were a faded blue at one stage. He wore shoes the like of which Kotetsu had never seen before, and had a head of blond-ish hair. The woman was much shorter than the man, even shorter than Kotetsu himself. She had bright pink hair and wore similar clothing to the man. He also saw that she was quite attractive, almost stunningly so, but decided against saying anything, not only for the sake of his job, but also unwillingly to take the risk that she was with the man.

As approached him, he greeted them both with a smile. He always wished to show that his village was hospitable to strangers.

"Hay there strangers," he said, as they stopped a couple meters from him. "What brings you to The Village Hidden In The Leaves?"

The man responded "We are traveling from a very, _very_ far away land, and we were hoping to speak to the Hokage about our journey, and why we are here." The woman beside him nodded her assent.

Kotetsu shot an almost invisible look at Izumo, who, despite all outward appearances, was paying very close attention to the conversation. When he saw Izumo's microscopic nod of approval, he brought his gaze back to the couple before him.

"Ok, we will allow you entrance to the village. Follow Izumo here and he will take you to the Hokage," he said, as Izumo stepped up beside him (Izumo already having pressed the hidden switch in the booth to unlock the gates). He added with a laugh "You must be from very far away, I don't even recognize your clothes!"

As the couple walked off with Izumo he saw them shoot each other an odd look, part terror part amusement. Just as he was settling himself back in his chair he could've sworn he heard the woman whisper to the man "I can't be-_lieve_ we forgot clothes!"

…

As Kroqgar walked after Izumo, he felt Whisper's hand grip his (not hearing the sad sigh escape from the booth behind them) and returned her grasp, smiling to himself. He remembered the brief conversation they had before they left for the village.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Before we go, there is just one more thing I wanna talk about", said Whisper, as she stretched out on the grass, enjoying her new human form. Having this much hair on her head was _weird!

"_How we got here?" replied Kroqgar._

"_You got it."_

_They discussed several ideas and theories, each more ridiculous than the last, before finally concluding that is must have been the work of the sphere of light._

_Still not wanting to delve into _too_ much detail about that particular memory, they discussed what could've happened. Neither of them had said anything special, neither of them did anything special (they both blushed profusely at this thought, and it was more visible than ever on their fur-less faces)._

_At their wits end, they sat there silently for a few minutes, each thinking their own private thoughts. Eventually, just as a matter of interest, Kroqgar asked "What was your New Years Resolution?"_

_Looking at him for a moment, a very slight blush spreading across her cheeks ("She looks so cute like that", thought Kroqgar to himself) and said, "I wished for a new life."_

_Kroqgar sat up and looked at her in amazement for a moment, before a big smile spread across his face._

"_Me too."_

_END FLASHBACK_

Izumo half turned to face them, a grin on his face as he placed one hand on the great gates.

"Welcome to The Village Hidden In The Leaves", he said, and pushed the gate open.

Kroqgar and Whisper followed him through the massive gates and into the brightness beyond.


	3. Stories, Secrets and Scents

**Chapter 3:**** Stories, Secrets and Scents**

As Kroqgar and Whisper followed Izumo through the gates and into the village beyond, they shielded their eyes with their forearms, momentarily blinded by the bright sun. When they lowered there arms, their eyes hot wide open, and their jaws dropped open to an unnatural angle.

They were in The Village Hidden In The Leaves.

This was the dream of every huge Naruto fan. They were actually walking the streets of Konoha! They could see the villagers walking around, bustling back and forth in their day-to-day activities. Children ducking between the legs of the adults, obviously playing (Whisper gave a small gasp of excitement) ninja with wooden kunai and shuriken. They saw all the shops and buildings, the Japanese architecture, and all the writing in kanji. Briefly the two worried about how they were going to survive in a world where they couldn't read, until a white light flashed through their vision, momentarily blinding them. They took great care not to tip off their ninja escort, but in a flash of insight and understanding, they saw all the kanji scroll through their mind's eye, faster than they could comprehend. Meanings, definitions and inflections inserted themselves in their head almost painfully, as if the current knowledge had to jostle around to make room.

When they both looked again, they saw that the kanji written on every building, advertising it's wares and business was unchanged.

What was changed was that they could now read it.

Whisper shot a glance at Kroqgar. He could read her better than anyone else, and knew what it meant. _"Was that the same as…?"_

He responded with a glance of his own. _"Yeah, that was exactly the same as when we learned to use chakra and those jutsus."_

Izumo was not a chunin for nothing. He did not miss the brief interchange that happened behind him, but could not interpret it. He stored it away in his brain, in the file of what he knew of these people, ready to report to the Hokage.

Kroqgar and Whisper stared around the village in newfound appreciation, no longer concerned about reading. They seemed to be on the main road, going straight from the gate to the Hokage mansion. They could see lots of smaller roads branching off this, leading to various other parts of the village. In the distance, behind the Hokage mansion, they could see the sun shining off the Hokage monument, the four faces gazing watchfully over the village.

"Hey!" They heard a voice say sharply, and they lowered their gaze to see Izumo standing some distance ahead of them, arms crossed and waiting. "You coming?"

Cheeks reddening in embarrassment, they both hurried forwards to catch up with him, as he turned and walked off.

…

Ino Yamanaka stepped out of The Iron Kimono, the foremost clothing store for shinobi in Konoha. It specialized in casual and formal clothes for shinobi, that could also double as battle gear. It was owned by a woman named Hotaru (A/N: Firefly), a jounin in her late thirties who had retired after losing her whole squad in action many years ago. The orange haired woman was still quite attractive, a trim body kept fit by daily exercise with a chest that was the envy of many of Konoha's women. As a fashion diva, Ino had always idolized Hotaru, the older woman's knowledge and grasp of fashion dwarfing her own. If she had the time, she stopped in on her every day, to chat about fashion and catch up on the latest gossip. Hotaru always looked forward to the visits, she could see the potential for a truly great ninja in the girl.

And besides, for her it was always fun to talk about clothes.

Hotaru had just revealed to Ino some of her new designs and prototypes, and Ino had not been in the shop anywhere near long enough to look at and try on everything she liked, but she had to get moving. Her mother Ikari (A/N: Anger, I thought it would work well with Ino) had told her in no uncertain terms that she had to work in the family flower shop that day, and brave as Ino was she was terrified at the thought of seeing a loaded Ikari pointed at her.

She waved goodbye to Hotaru as she moved towards the door. " I should be in tomorrow!" she said.

"I'll see you then Ino. If your lucky I might even tell you a story about The Kit!" Hotaru smiled back at her. She gave a small chuckle as she saw the young kunoichi's jaw drop at the thought of seeing her legendary tailoring kit, that almost every kunoichi in the village wanted a look at but none, not even the Hokage, had ever seen.

Ino waited until her companion had said her goodbyes to Hotaru, then opened the door and stepped out onto the Konoha high street. As she looked around, the Hokage Monument on her right and the Hospital on her left, she heard a slight scuffle and a thud behind her. She turned to see her closest friend Sakura Haruno in a bent over position, her foot obviously having caught on the doorway as she walked through, and causing her to stumble. Ino smirked down at the pink haired kunoichi, scathing remarks already forming in her head.

"Nicely done there Sakura, I guess your billboard-brow threw you off balance."

"Shut up Ino-pig!" Sakura said, straightening up and shooting a glare at the blond.

"'Shut up'? Is that the only response you can think of with that brain of yours?" Ino shot back, still smirking.

The two continued to bicker amiably as they walked down the high street in the direction of the main gate, towards the turn off to the Yamanaka compound. Few heads turned at the vehemence of the pair's arguing, most by now knew of the sometimes confusing but deep friendship those two shared. Said two waved hello to friends and family along the way, stopping briefly to talk with Ino's father Inoichi. As they were passing the hospital they saw Izumo heading in the direction they had come from, looking like he was going to the Hokage mansion.

"Hey Ino, isn't that the Hokage's assistant? You know, he guards the gate with that other guy?"

"Yeah, Izumo. I wonder why he's not at the gate."

"It's gotta be something to do with those two," said Sakura, eyeing the couple tailing the chunin. "I don't recognize either of them. And look at their clothes! I've never seen anything like them. They must be from another country." Not hearing a response, Sakura turned to see Ino standing there, stars in the blonde's eyes as she stared at Kroqgar.

Sakura waved a hand in front of Ino's face, trying to get her attention. Ino didn't even blink as she said "Who cares about their clothes!" though secretly she was admiring their pants, never having seen anything like them, and quite liking the way they looked. "Check out that _boy!_"

Although Kroqgar was already larger than most of the adults in the village, his looks even while disguised and his walk seemed to speak of his youthfulness, and the pair could tell he was only a few years older than they. Sakura eyed him as the pair approached, and while secretly thinking that Sasuke was still cuter, agreed with Ino.

After a good eyeful of the admittedly attractive Kroqgar, Sakura turned her gaze towards the girl next to him. Her eyes widened slightly at seeing hair similar to hers, in colour if not in style. She had to admit that, strangely clothed as she was, the girl quite beautiful, with perfect skin and dancing eyes. She gave a small start as she saw that this girl was almost as tall as Izumo, and re-estimated Kroqgar's height. He was huge!

Suddenly the girl's head swiveled in Sakura's direction, and they looked straight at each other. The grin on the other girl's face seemed to fade for a moment, and then she smiled widely back at Sakura as a greeting. Sakura blushed for a moment, then gave a small smile back. She saw the girl look at Ino beside her, and although she couldn't hear it at this distance, knew that the other had just laughed. She turned to see that Ino was still staring at the handsome stranger, almost drooling.

Sakura turned back just in time to see the girl whisper something into the boy's ear and point in their direction. He looked confused for a moment, before turning his head to gaze directly at them. Sakura was paralyzed under his gaze, and knew that she was blushing furiously, but could do nothing to stop it. His eyes were so… so… _captivating._ That mix of green and blue, like the sea after a storm. Suddenly his eyes moved to Ino beside her, and the spell was broken. She saw Ino start, then give a small smile and wave at him. Oddly enough, the stranger immediately flushed bright red, and then looked anywhere but at them.

With an effort, Sakura tore her gaze away from the two strangers, and focused her attention on the still staring Ino. She grabbed the blonde by her arm and started dragging her along.

"Come on Ino, you have to get to your shop. If you don't get there on time we'll need Kakashi-sensei's sharingan to calm your mother down."

…

Izumo had taken great notice of the brief interplay that had occurred behind him. What could these two strangers, who supposedly had never been in Konoha before, have to do with a Haruno and a Yamanaka? He filed this information away in his brain, gathering what he knew of these two into a mental file that he knew he would have to relay to Tsunade eventually.

…

Kroqgar and Whisper were having a hard time restraining themselves from shaking with excitement. They couldn't believe they were standing just outside the Hokage's office! Izumo had led them through the Hokage mansion (which was a lot larger than the books gave it credit for), and now they were standing before a door on a staircase that hugged the outside of the building, with a breathtaking view of the Hokage Monument behind them. With a glance back at them, Izumo slid open the door and walked inside.

They entered what looked like a waiting room, complete with a few chairs, a window, a few potted plants, and even a secretary sitting at a desk just to the left of a large set of double doors. The secretary looked to be in her late twenties, with black hair and a pleasant, smiling face. She looked up as Izumo entered, and smiled at him.

"Hey Izumo, what brings you up here?"

"Izumo stopped before her desk and smiled back. "Hey Shizune, I'm just escorting these visitors to the Hokage," he said, pointing behind him. Shizune looked behind him and noticed the two for the first time.

"Oh, hello there, welcome to Konoha!" she said with a smile, watching the two grin weakly and wave tentatively back at her. "Lady Tsunade is with someone at the moment, so if you'll just take a seat…" she trailed off as the door next to her slid open, and out backed Hana Inuzuka.

"…and the kennel cough seems to have faded, so the pups should all get better soon." she was saying.

They heard a very familiar voice respond from in the room, "Ok, thank you for the report Hana, give my best wishes to Tsume. SHIZUNE! THERE HAD BETTER NOT BE ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE!"

Shizune turned back to them with a scared smile on her face. "Heh heh, that _was_ her last appointment for the day…"

"I HEARD THAT! I GODDAMN KNEW IT!"

"She'll see you now, go right on in. Izumo, you can go back to the gates." said Shizune, waving them forward. She leant in close and whispered, "Try not to stand too close."

"I HEARD THAT TOO!"

Izumo flipped the pair a lazy goodbye, and began walking away. Just as he was opening the door, he half turned and caught Shizune's eye. In that split second he managed to convey to her that something was up. The two before her were not as they seemed. He urged her to be alert but not alarmed. She gave him a microscopic nod and he left the room. He was followed by Hana Inuzuka, who stood aside to let the two pass by her. As they did, she smelt them, as did any Inuzuka when coming across strangers. She managed to keep her composure, but inside she was reeling at what the sniff had told her. She stared at them over her shoulder as she exited the room.

"_One things for sure,"_ she thought to herself, _"Those two sure spend a lot of time around dogs."_

…

Kroqgar slid the door shut behind him, and tuned to join Whisper in staring, open-mouthed, at the woman at the desk across the room, bathed in the sunlight streaming in from the open windows on the left. This was Tsunade.

Tsunade, granddaughter and grandniece of the First and Second Hokage's respectively. Tsunade, student of the Third Hokage. Tsunade, one of the three legendary sannin, the Slug Sage, and one of the most powerful people in the world. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.

The legendary woman stared back at them a moment, before saying in a dangerously low voice "It's rude to stare."

Immediately Kroqgar and Whisper snapped their jaws shut, not in the least wishing to displease the woman before them. They crossed the room to stand before her.

"So," began Tsunade, eyeing the pair up and down, "What brings you to Konoha?"

Kroqgar and Whisper shared a glance, before Kroqgar repeated what he had told Kotetsu at the gates.

"Alright," said Tsunade, leaning back in her chair with a smile. "Before you tell me about this _very_ far away land," she began, the very being spoken quite sarcastically, "and why you have come to The Village Hidden in the Leaves…" and then she leaned forward in her chair, and glared at the two of them. "You're going to tell me why you have transformed yourselves, and you are going to reveal your true identities to me, before I kill you both."

Kroqgar and Whisper looked at each other, alarm showing in their eyes. Tsunade gave a loud laugh, and said, "I am the Godaime Hokage, did you think I wouldn't see through your disguise?"

Kroqgar looked down at her. "Very well," he said, looking weary. "Would you please invite Shizune in? I have no doubt you will tell her this anyway, and it is a long story."

Tsunade's eyebrows rose in slight surprise, but these two strangers had her intrigued now.

"Shizune!"

The door slid open, and Shizune poked her head into the room. "Yes Lady Tsunade?"

"Come in here, I want you to hear this."

Shizune gave her mentor a quizzical look, but stepped in anyway, sliding the door shut behind her, and walked over to stand by Tsunade.

"Also, before we begin," said Whisper, speaking up for the first time, "Can you seal the room so no one can hear what we say?"

At this Tsunade's eyes widened slightly. She had very rarely sealed this room, and even then only when what was being spoken was a beyond S-Rank secret. This could just as easily be a setup for an assassination attempt, they had come from younger and more innocent looking people before, but she got no sense of malice from the two. So she nodded at them, formed a hand sign in front of herself, and said "Hidden Style: Dead Silence!" A shadow seemed to pass over the entire room, then nothing else happened.

Not noticing any difference, Whisper turned towards Tsunade, and asked, "What does that do?" Or at least she tried to. Her lips moved, and she felt the sound coming out of her throat, but didn't hear a thing. She saw Kroqgar next to her trying to speak, but to no avail. Beginning to panic, she turned back to Tsunade, to notice that she was rummaging in a drawer of her desk. The sannin emerged with four tags, each with the kanji for voice on them. She gave one to everyone in the room, then put her own over her throat.

"If my lip reading is still what it used to be, then to answer your question it means that no one can hear or see what goes on in here," said the Hokage with a smile. "Now, let's hear this story of yours."

"All right," said Kroqgar, sitting down in his chair. "Get comfortable, this'll take a while. Ok… where to start…"

Whisper took the initiative, and with a thought dismissed her transformation in a poof of white smoke. Whilst she was still hidden from view, Kroqgar stood back up and followed her lead. Needless to say that even Tsunade was more than mildly surprised when she saw the appearance of two half-canine people in front of her.

Shizune, however, was blown away. The stunned expression never leaving her face, she asked, "Is everyone...like you where you come from?"

Kroqgar's short laugh told her all she needed to know. "No, we are the only two like this."

"But why? How did you become….?" Tsunade trailed off, gesturing wordlessly at them.

Whisper drew in a sharp intake of breath, and her ears flattened against her head. Kroqgar's eyes flashed dangerously, but otherwise he remained unmoved by the question. "That's another story," he said.

"O…K…" haltingly replied Tsunade, willing to let sleeping dogs lie. (A/N: Hehehe.)

"And we don't come from far away," continued Kroqgar, settling down in his chair once more and taking care not to sit on his tail (an act that Tsunade and Shizune couldn't help but notice), "We come from…an entirely different plane of existence. A different reality…"

"…a different world," breathed Whisper, finishing Kroqgar's sentence.

…

Kroqgar and Whisper told her everything. Where they had come from, what their world was like, how they had gotten here. Tsunade noticed they left out just how they had come into being, but decided not to push the issue. She didn't want to displease these people they could learn so much from. The two had almost finished their explanation of how they had come to the village when a light clicked on in her head, and she butted in.

"So I suppose you two are responsible for the destruction just outside the village?" At the confused looks the pair gave her, she sighed before elaborating, "Broken trees, smashed rocks, torn up grass…?"

"Oh," said the girl, who Tsunade now knew as Whisper. The foxy lady reached her hand up and nervously scratched at the back of her head, before grinning and saying "Yeah, that was us. When we came here we found that we were both really strong and fast, and we can manipulate chakra."

"Woah, hold on. You know about chakra?" Shizune interrupted, not caring that it wasn't her place to speak.

Kroqgar gave her a funny look. "Of course we do."

"Well then how come you haven't said anything about it before now? Why didn't you use it to help yourselves hide back in your world?"

Whisper replied "Because we couldn't use it in our world. No one can, it is unheard of."

Tsunade frowned. "Then how do you know of chakra's existence?"

The two before her shared a glance, before the girl nodded, and Kroqgar turned back to her with a sigh.

"In our world," he said, "There is an anime series, it is really popular. The anime is called Naruto."

Shizune laughed. "We have a Naruto here in our village."

Tsunade smiled at those words, before turning to the pair before her and smirking. "I don't suppose it's about him is it?" she asked, every word laced with sarcasm.

Instead of laughing as she expected the pair to do, Kroqgar responded with a dead serious face, "Yes. It is."

Tsunade did a massive double take. "What!?"

Whisper looked her straight in the eyes as she responded. "The series is all about Naruto Uzumaki, genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and the container of the Nine Tailed Fox. It follows his career as a ninja."

Tsunade and Shizune's eyes met, and there was no mirth in the room now. Tsunade recovered from her shock quickly.

"So what you're saying is," said the older blonde, "That our whole existence…our reality is just an anime series in your world." It wasn't a question.

Kroqgar answered it though. "Yes. It is."

Tsunade'e eyes slid between the two in front of her. "You'll forgive me if I find this all a bit hard to believe."

Kroqgar and Whisper had foreseen this though, and had prepared exactly what they were going to say. "We know that the Yondaime Hokage fought but could not kill the Nine Tailed Fox. He sealed it inside his newborn son, Naruto. Naruto is despised by most of the village because of this, because they see him as a demon who took away the Hokage they all loved. He became a genin after failing the graduation test three times, because of his terrible clones. He learned the shadow clone jutsu after stealing the scroll containing it from this very building. He is a member of Team 7, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. Their sensei is Kakashi Hatake, the copycat ninja."

Tsunade's jaw hit her desk halfway through Whisper's explanation. These two knew things that no one could possibly know. Still…it was not beyond the realms of possibility for them to have gathered all this information…

"Alright," said the sannin, composing herself. "If you can answer seven more questions, I will believe you." The two seated before her nodded for her to continue. "What is my last name, my brother's name, my lover's name, the names and titles of my grandfather and granduncle, and Shizune's relation to any of those people? Also, what summon contract have I signed, and who is my personal summon?"

Kroqgar didn't even blink. "Your last name is Senju, your brother's name is Nawaki and your lover's name is Dan, though both of those two have passed away. Your grandfather, Hashirama Senju, was the First Hokage, and his brother, your granduncle, Tobirama Senju, was the Second Hokage. Shizune is Dan's niece. You have signed a summon contract with the Slug Clan, and your personal summon is the clan's head, the slug queen Katsuyu."

Shizune's eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and her eyebrows were so high they were in danger of losing themselves in her hairline. This…this wasn't possible! These two knew things, things that they couldn't possibly know. Unless, of course, their claim that Shizune's entire reality was…was a cartoon was true. But that wasn't possible. Shizune's mind warred with itself as she tried to reach a conclusion. Sure, the appearance of the duo between them lent credence to…well, basically any far-fetched claim they would make, but still… No matter what something looked like, the thought of another reality existing was not difficult to believe in, but that the two before her were _from_ a different reality….That was a whole new can of beans, in her opinion.

Tsunade however, seemed to accept it easily. Shizune knew her mentor well enough to figure out why she was acting the way she was, and how her thought process worked. She clung to this like a lifeline, drowning as she was in the whirl of her thoughts. Tsunade had proven through her questioning that the two before her knew things that were known by only very few people, and Tsunade not only personally knew all these people, but also personally knew they wouldn't reveal this information. Therefore, Kroqgar and Whisper knew things it was not possible to know unless their story, or some other set of entirely implausible circumstances was true. And seeing as Shizune had yet to think of another set of circumstances that fit with the facts before her, the two's story had to be true. That wouldn't stop her from wondering _how_ it was true, but not right now. She had to keep her wits about her and see what Tsunade had to say.

"Alright," said the sannin, steepling her fingers before herself. "insane as your story may seem, in light of your knowledge I have to believe you, there is no other way you could know these things. The question is though, what do you want, now that you are in our world? You have only spoken of your world, and how you got here. What are your plans?"

Whisper and Kroqgar had spoken about this, and the answer was easy. It was their dream.

"We want to become Leaf shinobi," said Whisper.

"Because of the circumstances we would like to be genin straight away. Neither of us really wanna go to school, and we think that since we basically have passed all the tests to become a genin anyway it's not unfair," continued Kroqgar.

Tsunade considered this for a moment, before nodding her head. "That's reasonable." The sannin leaned down and rummaged in her desk, and emerged with two Leaf headbands, the symbol of Konoha gleaming proudly on the metal plate. She leaned forwards, and handed one to each of the two in front of her. "I'm sure you know what these are. Wear them with pride. Congratulations, you are now shinobi!"

Whisper gave a small squeal of joy, before clasping her hands to her mouth in embarrassment, and Kroqgar clenched one fist and softly said "Yes!"

Shizune however, was not so happy. "Lady Hokage?" she asked, as she leaned in closer to Tsunade, "Might I have a word with you?"

Tsunade had expected this. "Of course Shizune. Would you two mind taking those tags off for a moment?"

Kroqgar and Whisper had no issue with that; they had both been expecting far more skepticism than this. They both reached up and peeled the tags off their throats. They watched Tsunade and Shizune curiously. The Hokage and her assistant seemed to be having a conversation; only their mouths were closed. Their heads were moving, they were gesturing, but that was it. Little did they know that if they were outside the range of Tsunade's Dead Silence jutsu when she had used it they wouldn't even be able to see them without the tags.

Shizune and Tsunade however, were anything but silent.

"Lady Tsunade, do you think it is wise to trust them so quickly? How are you sure they are on our side?"

"The fact of the matter is Shizune, that I'm not sure they're on our side. Nor do I trust them entirely. But they have information. If our existence is a story to them, who knows what they could know? They could tell us anything we wanted about the other nations! How can we turn down that opportunity?"

"Well, I suppose…"

"Shizune, I'm not gonna lie. The information that they have is priceless. I think it's best to keep them happy, and under subtle observation, until we decide what to do with them. They seem like good people, and if it turns out they truly want to be Leaf shinobi then we could be gaining a great asset. And we simply can't let the other nations get a hold of them. We'll keep them here, and even train them, but we will keep an eye on them."

"If you say so, Lady Hokage."

With a nod to Shizune, Tsunade turned back to Kroqgar and Whisper, and gestured for them to replace their tags. After they did, she said, "From now on you two are citizens and genin of Konoha. Shizune will show you the village, then she will take you to your new home. You won't have to pay any rent, and it is already furbished." The Hokage rummaged in one of her draws once again, then came back up holding a small purse and a key. She handed the key to Shizune, and the purse to Whisper. "That should be enough ryo for now. Soon you two will start going on missions, and start earning your keep. Speaking of which, I want you both back here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to meet your new jounin senseis. They'll take you to meet your new teams. (Tsunade noticed that at the mention of joining a team both of the youths before her grew quite excited.) Shizune, you know the place they're staying at. It's tenant just left because she didn't like her neighbour," Tsunade said, a smile quirking her lips. "Before you take them anywhere though Shizune, I would go to The Iron Kimono and get them some clothes from Hotaru, on the Hokage tab. Hopefully they won't stick out as much then. See you tomorrow morning, you two."

Kroqgar and Whisper both stood up, and with a thought Tsunade cancelled her jutsu. The two took off their tags and handed them back to Tsunade, before bowing slightly, a bit unsure of how to communicate their thanks.

Tsunade gave a short laugh. "No need to bow, I don't think I'll get used to it. Just tell me if your grateful!"

"Thank you very much for all this, Lady Hokage," said Kroqgar, a big smile on his wolfish face. "We promise you won't regret your faith in us." Whisper backed this up with a big smile and a nod. Tsunade felt a brief flush of guilt flash through her. "Out of curiosity though, how long have you been Hokage?"

Tsunade smiled and said, "Hmmm, let me think… about a week."

Kroqgar's smile grew slightly fixed, and she noticed a flash of worry go through his eyes. It did not take a Nara to figure out why.

"Something bad is going to happen soon, isn't it?"

Kroqgar started, then all too late brought a smile back to his face and said "Of course not!"

"You can't lie to a sannin, Kroqgar. I assume you haven't made the offer of telling us the future because you are going to keep that to yourselves?"

The two exchanged a glance, and Whisper said "We're sorry, but we don't want to mess with time. If we changed something for the better, who knows how bad it could turn out? We…" the vixen girl hesitated, glancing at Kroqgar. "We _might_ tell you about _some_ small things, if we think that changing them could only be for the better. But that's a big if."

Tsunade saw the wisdom in this, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "We'll talk more about this another time," she said, and saw Kroqgar and Whisper nod in agreement. They turned to leave, and Tsunade stopped them with a question.

"Aren't you two forgetting something?" she asked with a quirked brow.

Kroqgar and Whisper looked at her quizzically, then at themselves, before realization dawned on them. They both said "Oooooooh!" at the exact same time. They then made the Tiger hand seal, and disappeared in a puff of smoke, to reappear seconds later in their human guises. Tsunade chuckled at their cluelessness, but got deadly serious in an instant.

"No one else is to know about your appearance yet, understand? If anyone else found out, it could endanger your lives, and the whole village. From now on your true form is an S-Rank secret, and is only to be revealed to people if I say so. Got it?"

Kroqgar and Whisper nodded their understanding, and walked towards the entrance to the room, where Shizune was holding the door open. As the two were leaving the room, Tsunade called after them "Remember, my office, nine o'clock tomorrow morning!" Shizune closed the door with a quick bow to Tsunade, and the sannin was left alone. A sudden thought dawned on her.

"AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHIZUNE, DON'T LET THEM NEAR THE INUZUKAS!!"

* * *

**The Iron Kimono** and **Hotaru** are both the intellectual property of **MikeJV37**. I strongly urge you to go to his profile page on and check out his stories, especially The Fox Hidden in the Leaves. I couldn't stop reading it.

I'd like to hear people's opinions on how I'm portraying Whisper and Kroqgar as a male and a female. I'm not great at writing female leads, and I've been trying to do my best to focus on her as much as him. I don't want her too seem weak when compared to him, I want them to seem equal, so I would really like some feedback on whether I need to make her stronger.


	4. A Big Day

**Chapter 4: A Big Day**

Kroqgar and Whisper neglected to remind Shizune that they likely knew their way around Konoha better than her, they could not turn down this opportunity to see Konoha in person. But first they were to go to the The Iron Kimono, which was obviously some sort of clothing store. What surprised them was that they had never heard of it.

As Shizune walked ahead of the pair, droning on about nothing of great interest, they slowed their walking to gain a respectable distance.

"So what do you think of this 'Iron Kimono'?", asked Kroqgar, eyes constantly roving, taking in every detail. He noticed with little surprise that when they had walked in with Izumo, they had been greeted by most of the villager's with stares that couldn't quite be called hostile, but were certainly wary. Since Tsunade had only just become Hokage though, this was to be expected. Konoha had fallen on rough times, with the invasion by The Villages Hidden in the Sound and Sand, and the death of the Third Hokage at the hands of Orochimaru. But even since they had put on the fore head protectors that Tsunade had given them (Whisper had tied hers around her fore head, but Kroqgar had decided to tie his around his right bicep) no one had given them a second glance.

"I dunno," said Whisper, the smile she had gotten once leaving Tsunade's office still warm on her face, "I suppose there are gonna be things that we've never heard of before."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Masashi Kishimoto wouldn't have written every single little detail of the entire Naruto universe. There are bound to be shops, restaurants, people, everything that we have no idea about. We really only know the main events. We're gonna have to figure out the other stuff as we go."

"I guess so… In that case," Kroqgar said, flashing a devious grin in her direction, "Maybe we should listen to what Shizune has to say?"

Whisper giggled, and like Kroqgar sped up a little until Shizune was back in hearing range.

"…and over there is where the Ninja Academy is, obviously that's where the younger children who want to become ninjas are trained and eventually take the genin exams. On your right," said the raven haired woman, gesturing to the east and by the vagueness of her gesture indicating a few streets over, "is where the village hot springs are…" Shizune suddenly stopped and turned to face them, eyes closed and grinning in mild embarrassment. A hand reached up to scratch at the back of her head as she said, "Though, I guess you two already know all this huh?"

Kroqgar and Whisper caught up to Shizune and started walking alongside her down the Konoha High Street. "Well, I suppose we sort of know our way around the village, as well as where a few landmarks are, and maybe where a few people live," said Whisper, smiling warmly at Shizune, "but we could still use this tour. Our knowledge of your world isn't complete. Imagine if people were watching your whole life. Sure, some times it would be very exciting, but a lot of the things you do would be pretty boring. Necessary, but still boring. What we've seen of your world really only covers the really exciting parts, the big events, and a lot of the things around Naruto himself. Back in our world he was the main character of the whole series, and it followed what he did more than anything else. But all the little things, the day-to-day stuff… we have no idea."

"So…" said Shizune, brow furrowed as she mulled over what they were telling her, "You know all about… for example, Lady Tsunade's battle with Jiraiya against Orochimaru?"

"In great detail," responded Kroqgar.

"But you don't know about the latest prank that Naruto played?"

"Depends. What was it?"

Despite herself, Shizune smiled. "He had one of his shadow clones give Jiraiya a present in the middle of the street. There was a bra inside. Jiraiya got a nosebleed as soon as he saw it, and thanked Naruto. Naruto just said, "Enjoy it pervy sage!" and dismissed his shadow clone. As soon as the smoke cleared Jiraiya saw Anko Mitarashi and she yelled out "That's mine!"

Kroqgar and Whisper laughed long and loud. Tears streamed from their eyes, and they got more than a few strange looks from passers-by. Shizune joined in, albeit more discreetly. She personally thought that Naruto had outdone himself with this latest hijink, and mentally took her hat off to him.

"No, we hadn't heard about that," said Whisper when their laughter died down, still with a hint of a giggle in her voice. "And remind me to congratulate Naruto when I see him."

Shizune grinned before noticing where they were. "Oh, here we are!"

Whisper and Kroqgar both looked up and followed Whisper's gaze to the large, prosperous looking shop before them. The sign over the door read "The Iron Kimono".

…

Hotaru Kazenagare smiled in the sultriest way she possibly could. She was leaning against the counter in her store, one arm resting on it, the other holding up her head in her hand. Her eyes were half lidded, her hair framing her face. She had taken great care to ensure that much of her ample cleavage was showing from her shirt, as her breasts rested on the surface in front of her. Her rear was stuck out at an obscene angle.

She had been amusing herself for the past half hour by trying to make herself look as absolutely sexy as she possibly could in the mirror across her store. It was almost two o'clock and her usually bustling store had been empty for the past hour. The normally procrastinating ex-jounin had decided to stay up late last night after a busy day and catch up to her work, expecting another hectic day on the morrow, and her foresight was rewarded with crippling boredom.

She was just beginning to contemplate closing early when she heard the unmistakable sound of her door sliding open. She started noticeably and faster than the eye could see she fixed her hair and closed her partially open shirt. She was blushing slightly; her activities had gotten her slightly hot under the collar. There was more than a hint of colour on her cheeks. Her eyes lit up as she saw who it was.

"Shizune!", she called out as the Hokage's assistant entered her store. "What brings you here at this time of the day?" Normally the younger woman would be working with the Hokage until much later.

"Good afternoon Hotaru. I'm showing our two newest shinobi around the village, they just arrived earlier today and don't have anything except the clothes on their backs. So, they need a new wardrobe, and when I thought about it there was only one place to go. And before you ask… this is on the Hokage tab."

Hotaru smiled warmly at the compliment, her eyes widened at the mention of a new wardrobe, and she practically salivated at the thought of working on the Hokage tab. She didn't want the money, if she didn't have to make a living somehow she would sell her clothes for free, but the thought of being able to go all out on someone was as a moth to a flame. As the two walked into her store with a great amount of willpower she was able to resist her natural urge to measure them in her head. All her old customers were used to it, but she didn't want to scare away any new ones.

"Welcome to The Iron Kimono, casual and formal clothes and battlgear for shinobi! My name is Hotaru, how can I help you today!" She had her warmest smile on; she got a good vibe from these two. More than that, the boy that had stepped into the store was _gorgeous_. She could tell that she was easily fifteen years his senior, but at this precise moment she didn't particularly care. Her activities of the last half hour had a nice buzz of endorphins flowing through her system, and her already warm nether regions suddenly felt a flash of heat pass through them.

"Nice to meet you Hotaru", replied Whisper, smiling warmly at this woman. She seemed very nice. "My name is Whisper, and he's Kroqgar." Kroqgar acknowledged his name with a nod and smile at Hotaru. The woman's gaze seemed to linger on Kroqgar for longer than necessary, and Whisper saw him going slightly red in her peripheral vision.

Hotaru tore her eyes away from Kroqgar to look back at Whisper, hoping that no one had noticed her brief slip-up. Briefly she thought to herself _"I wouldn't mind measuring _that_ one up"_ before asking "What brings you to my store, Whisper and Kroqgar?"

"Well," responded the admittedly very beautiful girl, "we don't really have any clothes and the Hokage said this was the only place to go for them, so…here we are!"

"What would you like to look at?"

Whisper considered this for a moment. As she thought, she felt something inside herself. A sort of fizz, like some sort of chemical reaction deep within, it spread out to her limbs, energizing them, bubbling along her senses as she felt energy flood herself. It spread to her brain and filled her vision, and before she knew what she was saying her mouth parted from it's massive smile and she blurted out "Everything!"

Kroqgar's head and shoulders slumped.

…

Whisper admired herself in the mirror affixed to the wall of the small changing room. After several hours of exhaustive (and in Kroqgar's opinion, utterly boring) searching and trying, Whisper had finally settled on the outfit she liked. She was wearing skin-tight black shorts that came to about halfway down her thighs. She also had on a wire mesh singlet similar to Shikarmaru's or Anko's however unlike the latter's it could not be seen through. On top of that she wore a button-up long sleeve shirt, with the sleeves rolled up over her biceps, and the buttons undone. The shirt itself was a very dark purple, with two pink circles on either side, just above where Whisper's ribs ended. The was a pink line running from the circles up and around either side of the sleeves, meeting at the top and then running down onto the sleeves themselves, where it expanded outwards so that, if the sleeves were unrolled, they would be solid pink from the elbow down. This was all topped off by dark purple fingerless gloves with a pink snowflake artfully woven into the back. Her left glove was of usual length, but the glove on her right hand reached her elbow, and was armoured along the outside edge from wrist to elbow. The armour itself was a dark red. Her fore head protector was still protecting her fore head, and she wore dark purple shinobi sandals to match the rest of her outfit. (Hotaru had noticed whilst measuring the girl that she was rather thin, and had deduced that wherever she had come from she had worked hard for a very modest living. She had equipped all the girls clothing with a special seal usually reserved for the Akimichi clan, so that their clothing wouldn't break when they used their expansion jutsus. Whisper's clothing would still be comfortable, but would stretch to accommodate her as she put weight back on to a healthy level. The same could be said of Kroqgar's.)

She opened the door and stepped out of the small changing room, noticing Kroqgar conversing quietly with Shizune on the other side of the store. Kroqgar had been finished for some time now, and Whisper could readily admit to herself that he looked quite handsome in his new clothes.

He was wearing a white and black uniform, with long, slightly loose white pants tucked into black boots with a white stripe circling the top, extending down the sides and back, and along the top to the toes. He was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt that was very open in the front, with a black undershirt and black wristbands. A black obi (sash) along his waist hid where the shirt ended and the pants began.

Basically, he looked like a black and white copy of Goku from Dragon Ball Z.

Amidst several of the Naruto volumes accumulated over the years by the two had been previews, snippets and sometimes entire volumes of various other mangas, but the only one they had enjoyed to some extent had been these slightly strange ones named Dragon Ball Z. They had only sporadically found them, and had a few far apart volumes in the series, so following the story was a lost cause, but what they could deduce was interesting enough. Whisper hadn't been particularly engrossed in it, but Kroqgar had read and re-read them, the combat and brute force in the book calling on the testosterone in him, the bloodlust and flames of combat that seem inherent in every teenage male. He had taken a liking to the main character of the series, one Goku, and had always wondered what it would be like to wear the famed uniform.

Now, he was wearing it himself, albeit a slightly modified version, and couldn't be happier. At his request, Hotaru had also put the kanji for 'new life' onto the back of his uniform, in black colouring and inside a large, empty black circle. When he had decided that these were the clothes for him, Hotaru had given him a big smile, before requesting the clothing back for a moment and disappearing into the back room. He smiled as he remembered her words as she handed it back to him.

"I've just put my special stain-repelling jutsu on that for you. Can't have your brand new white clothes getting dirty can we? Half the women in the village would kill to learn that jutsu!"

He looked over and saw Whisper emerging from the changing room, and his breath caught in his throat for the briefest of moments. She noticed his slightly startled gaze, and smiled at her own feet in embarrassment. She walked over to him and asked with a grin "So… how do I look?"

He made a strangled sort of noise and nodded absently, wide eyes never blinking as they roved over her. Shizune stifled a laugh with her hand at his actions. It was obvious how much he cared for her.

They stood there discussing each other's clothes for a few minutes, until Hotaru walked over to them from the back room. She gave them all a warm smile (her eyes seemed to flash as they roved over Kroqgar) and said "Alright, all your clothes are rung up. Here you go!" She handed Kroqgar a small scroll that she had sealed all their clothes in (they had bought several copies of their current clothes, as well as copies in different colours, plus just some casual clothing to wear around) and he tucked it into his pocket with a nod.

"Hotaru, we don't know how to thank you for all your help with our clothes. You're the second friend we've made here", said Whisper, with a grin at Shizune. Shizune smiled back. "If you ever need anything, you just ask and we'll do our best to help."

Hotaru smiled back, slightly embarrassed at the sincere thanks. "Don't worry about it, you don't owe me anything, I was happy to help. Just remember to come to The Iron Kimono for all your clothing needs", she said with a smile.

With a chuckle Kroqgar said "We'll do just that."

Shizune stepped forward, pulling an official looking card from somewhere within her clothing. "So how much sake is this gonna make Lady Tsunade drink to forget about Hotaru?"

Hotaru laughed for a moment, before responding "I'll make you a deal. You can have all of it for free if you give me _those_." She pointed at Kroqgar and Whisper's old clothes, draped over a chair by the changing room.

"Our old clothes?" asked Whisper, a quizzical expression on her face. "What do you want with them?"

"I've never seen anything like them!" said Hotaru, walking over to the clothes. She picked up a pair of jeans, and started running her fingers over them. "The material, the design! It's so different from anything I've ever seen. If you give these to me you don't have to worry about paying me a thing."

Kroqgar smiled. "Deal. We were just gonna get rid of them anyway, they're all yours."

Hotaru fairly bounced in happiness, and in a brief lapse of dignity threw her arms around Kroqgar in thanks. She stepped back, a faint blush on her cheeks, and said "I'm sorry, I lost my head for a moment! Thank you so much for this, I'll never forget it!"

They both looked uncomfortable at the amount of praise they were getting. Whisper muttered "They're only pants…"

"Alright, come on you two", said Shizune, "We still have places to go and things to do."

"All right. Thank you very much Hotaru, for all your help" said Kroqgar with a smile.

"No, thank _you_," said Hotaru, as the trio headed for the door. "Remember to come back if you ever need more clothes! Bye!"

"Bye Hotaru!" they all yelled as they walked out, Kroqgar shutting the door behind them.

Hotaru immediately took a small sign from beneath the counter, and went over to the door. She slid it open before hanging the small sign on it, signifying to anyone that walked past that, as the sign said, The Iron Kimono was "CLOSED". Hotaru almost ran back to the jeans, mind bubbling with ideas and thoughts of what she could do with them. She laughed out loud at the thought of what Ino would have to say upon learning of this entirely new fashion development. As she proceeded into the back of her shop, and the stairs there that led to her own home above it, she idly wondered why Shizune had hid the fact that Kroqgar and Whisper both had tails, and were transformed. Surely the Hokage's assistant would realize that as the master tailor she was, she would've seen through any illusion on her customers? She made a mental note to keep the information to herself; obviously they wanted their appearance's kept hidden. She decided to bring it up with the Hokage next time the older kunoichi visited her store, for her monthly check on the new clothes. The woman was only a dozen or so years older than Hotaru herself, and as she herself was fond of saying, "You're never too old to appreciate fashion."

…

Tenten sat in her family's shop, running a circular stone down a katana, over and over. She had been sitting there, doing this on autopilot, for well over an hour, but The Wolf's Claw weapon shop was known for their superior weaponry, and she'd be damned if she ruined the name of the family business.

So lost was she, in fact, in her trance-like state, that she did not even notice the tell-tale sliding sound of the door to the shop opening, nor the muted conversation that followed. She was, however, a ninja, and whilst caught slightly off-guard, she was not so slack to fail to notice when three figures crossed her field of vision.

More than mildly embarrassed at her state of zone-outedness, she almost dropped the whetstone. Quickly sliding both stone and sword under the counter she was seated behind, she stood up to greet her customers. One she recognized as the new Hokage's assistant. The other two, however, she had never seen before. They both appeared young, and wore the headband that dictated they were Leaf shinobi, but the slight stiffness in their garments, common to almost any newly-bought piece of clothing, told the sharp-eyed and –minded kunoichi that these two were very new citizens of Konoha indeed, let alone shinobi.

Her observations took less than a second. "Hello there, and welcome to The Wolf's Claw, best weapons in Konoha! You're the Hokage's assistant aren't you?"

"I certainly am," said the raven-haired woman with a smile. "My name is Shizune, and this is Kroqgar and Whisper." She gestured to each as they were named, and they both smiled at the young weapons fanatic.

"A pleasure to meet you all, I'm Tenten. What can I get for you today?"

"Well," said Kroqgar, (whom Tenten only now noticed was _hot_) "As it stands, we kinda…don't…. have any weapons." A sheepish smile crept across his face as he saw the shocked look on Tenten's.

"No… weapons? Wow…." Tenten couldn't even imagine herself weaponless. "Well, let's fix that! What would you like?"

With a shrug, Whisper responded "The standard set, I guess."

"Alright then!" said Tenten, and with that walked out from behind the counter and grabbed a couple of standard weapon pouches. "We'll get you each a standard package of kunai and shuriken." They walked around the shop, grabbing the aforementioned items, and putting them into the pouches. They chatted amiably about the different types of weapons, and all the while Kroqgar and Whisper began to feel more and more uncomfortable.

They didn't have the slightest clue how to use any of these.

Finally they had all the needed items in the right sizes for the two new shinobi. Tenten walked back behind the counter, carrying their weapon pouches.

"Is that everything you need?" asked the young kunoichi.

…

White shot through Kroqgar and Whisper's vision, taking them completely off guard. It would not have been so bad if Shizune saw, she had heard the explanation of their insights in the Hokage's office, but they both knew it would be a bad idea to show any more than necessary about themselves to anyone else for the time being. Flashing through their minds was image after image of every weapon conceivable, every blade, bludgeon, spike or stick one could think of. Trajectories, angles, thoughts and knowledge forced their way into the heads of Konoha's newest shinobi. They could feel their bodies tingling as muscle memory that they didn't remember working for was driven through them. It took every ounce of will the two possessed to keep their composure, and even then they were sure that the weapons kunoichi would notice something. But now they both knew how to fight with and against every weapon one could think of. And well.

But above all, through the maelstrom of all their new thoughts, one image, one thought, one fact, reigned supreme. This particular thought was different for both of them, but they knew from that point on it would become a part of them.

…

Tenten became a little worried as the two before her seemed to hesitate before answering. She noticed that their eyes seemed to go slack for a moment, and their bodies looked like a wave of tension swept over them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shizune's watchful glance between the two. Then, they seemed to normalize, and continued as if nothing had happened, albeit shooting a glance at each other.

"No, thank you very much, but that's all for today," said Whisper, a small smile on her face. "But…" She glanced at Kroqgar, who nodded imperceptibly.

"Yes?" asked Tenten, ever the polite shopkeep.

"Well…that's it for now, but…we will probably be back in soon… for something very special."

"All…right," said Tenten, a slightly confused expression on her face. "Well, I look forward to seeing you again then!" she continued, as Shizune stepped up to the counter, official Hokage-card in hand.

…

Shizune wheeled on the two of them as Kroqgar closed the door behind them, still waving to Tenten, both of the genin holding their new weapons pouches.

"What was that in there?" she said, indicating the store with a jerk of her head. "Did you guys have another one of your insights?"

"Yeah", said Whisper, rubbing at her eye, with the palm of her hand. All this new knowledge was giving her a headache. But she couldn't keep the smile from her face as she said "We know all about how to use weapons now."

Shizune looked to Kroqgar, who confirmed this with a smile and nod. She nodded herself, pleased with this. Even though she had known them only for a few hours, she had come to like these two, and did not wish them harm. "Good, that's information we want you to have."

With a chuckle, Kroqgar said "We should hope so."

They all laughed for a moment. Finally, Shizune asked "What was that about coming back? And it being very special?"

"When we got the insight, we both saw which weapon we are going to use from now on," said Kroqgar.

"Well, why didn't you get it then? Don't worry about it, it's on the house!"

"They wouldn't have had these weapons on hand," said Whisper, "They are unique, and likely very, very expensive. We don't want to take more than we need."

"Well, even if you don't _need_ it, it sounds like you two would be pretty handy with these weapons of yours," said Shizune, a thoughtful look gracing her features. "Since you say they would be so expensive, I can't really pay for them now, but I can talk to Lady Tsunade for you and see what I can do?"

"Really? You'd do that for us?" said Whisper, astonished at this woman's kindness. Shizune's reply was a strangled "Yes…" as both Kroqgar and Whisper almost crushed her with a hug.

…

Several hours later, Shizune took them along the path to what was to be their new home. They had walked the streets of Konoha, talked to some of the people, seen the places that no one else from their reality had ever seen. They were both fighting a losing battle against the twin terrors of wide-eyes and slack jaws from the start, at some of the stories and background Shizune told them, that they had never heard before. For example, they were told that the record for the quickest lap on record around the village was set by a young Might Guy, over a decade ago, and before he had caught his breath his record had been shattered by the Fourth Hokage, who had done the lap instantaneously. Though to soften the blow, the Hokage had said that he cheated, and that the record still belonged to Guy.

Both Kroqgar and Whisper had noticed it: something about this area seemed familiar. They hadn't been here before, but they felt like they had. They both shrugged it off, thinking themselves paranoid, but they couldn't quite shake the niggling sensation at the back of their thoughts, especially as a building came into view.

It was a two-story affair, with outside stairs leading to the second level. It looked like it had seen better days as well, the paint was either peeling or long gone, the boards slightly warped.

"Don't worry," said Shizune, misreading the slightly confused expressions on their faces. "It might not look that great, but the inside is fine, and you only have one neighbour."

They both nodded at her, wiping the confused looks off their faces. She led them up the stairs, and along a small walkway, past one other door. Both Kroqgar and Whisper glanced at it; something about it rang a bell.

Shizune stepped up to the next door, the only other on the landing, and withdrew a key from her robes, sliding it into the lock. She opened the door and stood aside.

"Alright, here's your new apartment," she said with a smile. As they walked inside she handed Kroqgar the key, two sheets of paper and two pencils.

"That's your key, and the papers are a personality test. We need it to help us decide which teams to put you two on. It's not anything hard, just "Which do you prefer", or "What would you do" and such."

Kroqgar and Whisper nodded as they glanced over the papers. "What do we do once we finish them?" asked the taller shinobi.

"An ANBU will be along to pick them up in an hour. They shouldn't take that long, but I would get started right away anyway, just in case you get stuck on something. Oh, and one more thing," continued the kunoichi with a growing smile, "While I was showing you two around Lady Hokage had a special seal placed on this apartment. Whenever anyone looks in, they will always see you…as you are now. But if anyone comes in, they will see you in whatever form you are in."

Kroqgar's smile was warm and genuine and Whisper's eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Never had they imagined such kindess. Shizune's smiled seemed to say that she understood that they couldn't accurately convey their thanks through words.

"All right, I'll see you two tomorrow morning, remember, nine o'clock! I won't be able to save you if your late," said Shizune with a smile as she started to turn away.

"Bye Shizune… and thank you," said Whisper, those words filled with emotion. Kroqgar didn't trust himself to speak, and simply swallowed and nodded. With a final wave, the Hokage's assistant walked off, and they closed the door.

…

Despite Shizune's advice to get started as soon as they could, Kroqgar set down the papers on a small table near the door, and he and Whisper both went and sat on the small couch. They put their new weapons pouches, the purse from Tsunade, and the scroll containing their clothes on the table in front of them. For a few minutes they both just sat there, zoned out, staring into space. Whisper was broken out of her reverie by a small popping sound next to her, and a puff of smoke. She realized Kroqgar had dropped his disguise, and with a thought dismissed her own. When she could see Kroqgar again, she saw that he was smiling at her.

He reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, and softly said, "I'd missed that face."

Her ears flushed red, but she did not pull away. With an embarrassed smile she leant in and rested on him, and he wrapped his arm around her. They sat there talking about the day so far, reliving moments of it. There was a particularly tense few moments when they hid in an alley after Shizune had pulled them in there, to hide from Tsume Inuzuka, out walking some of her clans dogs. The clan head had almost sniffed them out, but they managed to give her the slip. They didn't trust the scent-specialized jounin not to see through their disguises.

Eventually Kroqgar disengaged from Whisper, and brought over the personality tests. He set them down on the table, and they both did theirs in silence, occasionally asking a question of the other. Just as they both laid their pencils down, they heard a knock on their door. They glanced at each other, and Kroqgar silently transformed into his human guise, just as a precaution. Whisper followed his lead. He opened the door and saw one of the familiar, masked ninja standing there.

"Good day, I'm here to collect some documents for Lady Hokage?" said the ANBU politely.

"Oh, hello," said Kroqgar with a smile. Whisper waved from further in. "Hang on a second, just let me get those for you…" He walked back and grabbed his and Whisper's, before returning to the ANBU.

"Here you go, all filled in."

"Thank you," the ANBU said with a nod. He made to leave, but seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I hear your new here, so take my word for it, and don't judge us all on your neighbour. He's coming now," and with that he nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Whisper joined Kroqgar at the doorway, and they both heard the slight tapping sound of shoes climbing the stairs. They saw someone come up onto the landing from the stairs. And they recognized that someone from the top of his spiky yellow hair to the bottom of his orange jumpsuit.

The figure started as he saw them standing there, then grinned very widely.

"New neighbours, huh?", said Naruto, mischief evident in every line of his body. "I hope you guys are better than the last one, he was no fun."

* * *

**The Wolf's Claw** is the intellectual property of **MikeJV37**. I strongly urge you to go to his profile page on and check out his stories, especially The Fox Hidden in the Leaves. I couldn't stop reading it.


	5. New Friends and Old Feelings

**Chapter 5:**** New Friends and Old Feelings**

Kroqgar and Whisper stood there, jaws hanging wide. It was Naruto.

Orange jumpsuit, whisker marks, it was all there.

"Though I suppose if you replace someone's pillows with nindogs and rig their place with an alarm jutsu, they might get a little mad at you."

Naruto stood there, trying to grin off their stares, but they just kept staring. _"I've never even seen these two before,"_ he thought, _"but they must really hate me."_ His grin fell into a despondent frown as he stood there thinking. He was used to the taunts, monster, murderer, and more recently demon or demon fox. Two more people who hated him was not a big issue.

Kroqgar and Whisper were both understandably stunned when they saw Naruto, but their jaws simultaneously snapped shut when he turned from them with a resigned expression and began opening the door to his apartment. "Wait!" called out Kroqgar, aware that their window of opportunity to become his friend was shrinking.

Naruto turned, and gave them a hard look. "Yeah?"

Like the boy standing before him, Kroqgar was quite good at thinking on his feet. "Please, we're new to this village. We want to make as many friends as possible, and it looks like we've started off on the wrong foot." He smiled in a friendly manner, wanting desperately to be Naruto's friend. "I'm Kroqgar, and this is Whisper." He gestured to Whisper beside him, who grinned and gave a small wave.

But Naruto had supposedly been fooled like this before, and his guard didn't in the least drop. "Oh yeah? New huh?" His gaze slid between them. "Then why were you staring at me just now?"

The pained expression anyone gets when desperately trying to come up with a plausible lie began to show on Kroqgar's face, before Whisper came to the rescue. "Your clothes!" she blurted.

Despite his misgivings about the pair before them, Naruto couldn't help but think _"She has a pretty voice."_ "My clothes? What about 'em?"

"It's just….well, your clearly a shinobi," said the vixen in disguise, gesturing to his forehead protector, "but we have never seen any other ninja dressed as…brightly as you."

They noticed Naruto's stance relax very slightly. Despite it being the only clothing he could get, he had come to like his jumpsuit, and appreciated what he took to be a compliment from the two.

"Yeah, well…" said the younger ninja, lowering his hand from the doorknob and turning back to face them. A hint of his former grin returned. "Not many other ninjas are as bright as me."

Kroqgar and Whisper laughed easily at his joke. That was a big thing they had always liked about Naruto, his sense of humour.

Most of the tension drained out of Naruto. These two really seemed alright. On an inexplicable but understandable urge to impress the two before him (not realizing that they basically revered him already) he said "Hey, I'll prove it! Check out what I learned!" He held out his hand, palm up in front of him, and a focused look came over his face as his other hand started making cupping motions all around his opposite palm. Distortions, like ripples in the air, materialized quickly around his outstretched hand, becoming blue even as the two watched, and then focused into the familiar spherical swirling vortex of the Rasengan. He lifted his gaze, features highlighted by the blue glow emanating from his hand, to see that the pair were now standing much closer, and were both bending over to observe the sphere in his hands.

"Pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah…" said the pair in unison, eyes glued to the miniature maelstrom before them. It had taken a considerable force of will from both not to blurt out "Rasengan!" as they had seen Naruto forming it, and that same force of will alerted them to the fact that to keep up their charade, they needed to feign curiosity about the fascinating but (to the two of them) well known jutsu before them.

Both bent at the waist, Whisper raised her head to look at Naruto, while Kroqgar continued to gaze in awe at the small ball of chakra. "What's the jutsu called?" she asked.

A brief look of worry came across Naruto's face, and the blue glow disappeared as (to Kroqgars great disappointment) the Rasengan dissolved. All three straightened as Naruto said "Actually, I probably shouldn't tell you. I probably shouldn't even've showed you that." As he spoke a grin spread across his face, and he scratched at the back of his head.

"Well, can you show us what it can do sometime?" asked Kroqgar, desperately wishing to see the Rasengan in action.

Naruto seemed to think for a moment, then said "Well, I'll ask the guy who taught it to me if I can show you two, and if he says yes, then sure."

"Great! Thank you…?" said Whisper, ending in a question. Realisation dawned on Naruto's face as it occurred to him that he had never told them his name.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

Both smiling wide at hearing for the first time Naruto's dream, Kroqgar and Whisper stpped forward and shook the hand of a slightly confused Naruto, who had never seen this as a greeting before (Kroqgar and Whisper couldn't quite shake some habits). Kroqgar said with a smile "With a jutsu like that, I do believe that you will be Hokage someday Naruto."

Beyond almost anything else, they had just said the thing that guaranteed them as a friend of Narutos.

"Listen Naruto," said Whisper, still getting a slight buzz as she said his name, "Since we're new to the village would you mind showing us a good place for dinner? Our treat."

Naruto's eyes widened, and they could swear they saw unshed tears in them. "I know a place you'll love!" he said, already heading to the stairs. Only when they followed him to the bottom of the stairs (closing and locking their door behind them) did they realize how far away he'd gotten, and how fast he was moving. They saw an orange shape in the distance jump into the air and heard him shout "WOOHOO! FREE RAMEN, HERE I COME!"

Though laughing along with Whisper at Naruto's (albeit predictable) antics, Kroqgar was slightly worried. "Are you sure this is a good idea? You know how much he eats. He could almost be Saiyan," he said softly to her, referring to the race of bottomless-stomached warriors from the Dragon Ball series.

"I know we probably shouldn't," she said equally as quietly, "But can you think of a better way to become his friends? And besides," she added, barely restrained joy coursing through every syllable, "How many people can say they've eaten ramen at Ichiraku's with Naruto!"

…

They sat and talked at Ichiraku's for hours, as night truly fell around them. The operators of the stand Teuchi and Ayame seemed polite, but Kroqgar and Whisper could both detect a hint of caution and alertness lurking behind their smiling faces. Clearly the father and daughter did not trust them around Naruto, but they did not say anything to the contrary, and as the night went on and they saw how the trio eating before them interacted they seemed to relax, seeing that the pair were treating Naruto with respect, and truly wished to be his friends.

Though they had read about it for years, both Kroqgar and Whisper were still amazed by the sheer volume of ramen that the boy beside them could devour. He just kept eating…and eating… What was possibly more amazing was his ability to keep up an almost constant stream of chatter at the same time. This made the whole process perhaps a bit messier than it could've been, which surprised both of the new shinobi (they had both thought for sure that Naruto would consider it blasphemy to spill or drop in any way the tiniest amount of ramen), but it did not bother them in the least, neither of them ever having a care or need for manners.

He told them non-stop about himself, talking unashamedly of the prejudice he had suffered as a child, his trials to become a ninja, and the missions he had gone on afterwards. Though both knew it all, it was fascinating to hear it from his perspective, hear his spin on how events transpired, and to get to know him as a person better. Even with prior knowledge, his tales of his childhood almost brought Whisper to tears. They also both noticed he left out a few key details here and there, obviously having been told (most likely over and over again) to keep that particular information a secret.

He didn't ask a thing about them, which both Kroqgar and Whisper did not take in the least as an insult. They both knew he just hadn't been taught by anyone to do it, and besides they had nothing to tell him anyway, their past still being an S-Rank secret. When they failed to reveal anything about their previous lives both Teuchi and Ayame's caution levels seemed to rise again, and stay that way.

"_Looks like Tsunade will probably have an extra visitor tomorrow"_, thought Whisper, as she caught Ayame glancing suspiciously at them. For the fourth time. At first she had just assumed she was checking out Kroqgar, which she couldn't fault the young woman for.

Finally (and much earlier than Konoha's two newest citizens would have liked) they had to call it a night. Whisper paid the (admittedly impressive) bill and they said their goodbyes to Ayame and Teuchi. They started walking back home, Naruto moving much slower on a full stomach, and chatting amiably about nothing.

"So I guess, going on those forehead protectors, you two are ninjas huh?" asked the genin, fingers interlaced behind his head. Kroqgar swore very quietly as Whisper smiled widely. They had a bet going on as to whether he'd notice it or not, and Kroqgar had just lost.

Kroqgar still nursing his wounded pride, Whisper replied "Yes, as of today, we are."

Naruto stopped dead and gaped at them. "You only became ninjas _today_?" Whisper nodded in reply and Kroqgar responded "Yep."

"Wow! Which team are you guys on?"

"We're being assigned tomorrow morning, that's why we have to get home so early tonight. We don't wanna be late for Lady Hokage," said Kroqgar, a slightly scared look gracing his features at the prospect.

"Ahhh, Granny Tsunade's not so bad, once you get to know her. Trust me, just distract Shizune for her once when she's drinking sake, and she will be your friend forever," said Naruto sagely, nodding his head. "So if, you two just became ninjas today," he continued, a grin beginning to spread across his face," I guess that makes me higher ranked than y-." He was cut off by a clattering sound near to them.

They all turned to see a brightly blushing Sakura Haruno standing there, the last of the shuriken she was carrying clattering to the ground as she stepped out of the doorway of one of Konoha's weapon shops. Her eyes were fixed on Kroqgar.

Predicting Naruto's next actions, Whisper leaned down and said quietly "We'll see you tomorrow Naruto." Before she even finished talking, without so much as a word of goodbye Naruto had sprinted over to Sakura. He started picking up the shuriken for her, and doing his best to seem like boyfriend material.

Kroqgar smiled at Sakura as a greeting, and her resemblance to a pink-haired tomato increased. He decided to break eye contact with her before the rush of blood to her head made her pass out. When he saw in his peripheral vision that she had still not looked away he decided to put a stop to this once and for all (and even though he knew it was not to be he couldn't help but attempt to help Naruto out), and he laid his arm across Whisper's shoulders, and drew her close. Sakura seemed to pale a shade or two, but the blush yet lingered. Both gave a small wave of goodbye, and continued on home, Whisper moving closer into Kroqgar's embrace as they walked. Only after they had gone a block or so did they hear anything.

"NEVERMIND ABOUT A STUPID DATE NARUTO, WHO WAS THAT BOY YOU WERE WITH!"

Though both knowing what physical pain Sakura was likely putting Naruto through at the moment, Kroqgar and Whisper burst into laughter. As they laughed, both minutely tightened their grip on the other

…

Closing and locking the door behind her, Whisper turned to see Kroqgar flop down onto the couch in their living room, a frazzled expression on his face. She well understood the feeling, she was looking forward to a good nights sleep, after the events of the day.

With a puff of smoke, Kroqgar dismissed his transformation. Almost as if reading her thoughts, he ran a hand through the fur on the top of his head and said, "I'm sure looking forward to a good long sleep."

"Yeah," agreed Whisper, also dismissing her disguise. She raised both hands above her head, and stretched as high as she could, leaning backwards slightly. She groaned in pleasure as she felt several cracks and pops reverberate through her back, the result of the luxurious stretch. A wave of lassitude swept over her as she lowered her arms. She did not fail to notice Kroqgar's badly hidden yet appreciative smile, nor the red tinge of his ears.

Dismissing his subtle perving with a giggle and the word "Jiraiya" badly hidden in a cough, she stretched her tail out behind her, flexing it and arching it. It was easier for Kroqgar, he only had the relatively much shorter tail of a wolf, but as a fox hiding her tail with a jutsu and having to keep it still was almost torture.

"So", said Whisper, walking over to the small table in front of the couch. She leant down and picked up the scroll containing their clothing. "What do you reckon we should do with these?"

"Bring 'em out, let's look at them all again."

With a nod, Whisper placed the scroll back down on the table, and pumped a small amount of chakra into it. With an explosion of smoke, shopping bags appeared all around the room. On the table, on the couch (nearly burying Kroqgar), on the floor, one even swinging from the ceiling fan. Both started hacking and wheezing, and rushed around the apartment, opening all the doors and windows.

After a minute or so enough of the smoke had cleared to make opening one's eyes and mouth a possibility again.

"So," rasped Whisper, "No more jutsus inside. Agreed?" Kroqgar managed a nod of assent.

They surveyed the daunting amount of clothing in front of them. It honestly had seemed like a lot less amid the full-to-bursting racks and shelves of The Iron Kimono.

Eyes wide, Kroqgar turned to Whisper and said "So it's agreed, we'll do this tomorrow?"

Whisper nodded in relief. "Where are we gonna put 'em? Is there a cupboard or wardrobe somewhere?" She laughed for a moment. "We are gonna live here for how long? And we haven't even looked around!"

Kroqgar gave a chuckle of his own, and they both began to explore their new home. The front door opened into the main living area, with a couch and a coffee table facing to the right. A small table just inside the door had a small fern-looking plant upon it. Against the far wall, a larger table with a few chairs arrayed around it was situated underneath a pair of windows. A door on the far side of the couch led to a small bedroom with a single bed and a bedside table.

To the right of the doorway, where the couch was facing, was a small kitchen, complete with cupboards, cooktop and sink. A corridor with two doors branched off into the right side of the house. The right door led into a bathroom, with a sink right inside the doorway, a shower and bath across from it, and a toilet to it's left. A small door leading out of the bathroom solved their clothes problem: a walk-in wardrobe. Shelves, drawers and spaces galore. They followed this through, jaws slack at the oddly luxurious appointments, until they passed through another door and stopped dead.

Obviously _this_ was the master bedroom.

A large window on the far wall bathed the room in the moonlight. To the left of the window was a small bookcase, facing a dresser situated at the bottom of the bed. As Kroqgar and Whisper registered this, their eyes went wide. _The _bed. Singular. Not plural.

Always before whenever they had slept together it had either been out of necessity, such as huddling for warmth, or had just… happened. One had rolled over onto the other's bed in the night, or some such reason. Obviously Tsunade had assumed their relationship was more advanced than it was.

Neither wishing to appear hesitant (and both wanting the incredibly awkward moment and spiraling silence to end) they both stepped quickly through the bedroom, barely noticing the bedside tables on either side of the bed, and opened the last door, emerging in the hallway.

Voicing something that had been nagging at him through the tour (and also ending the silence between them) Kroqgar asked "Is it just me, or does this apartment look pretty top-notch? Naruto's is way worse than this."

"I noticed that as well," replied Whisper, gazing around the room. "I can think of two reasons: A, this is designed for two people to live in, whereas Naruto's is only for one, and B, Naruto never lived here, so it was kept in a much better condition than his. Cleaned, and never raided."

"Yeah, I spose that would explain it," said the much larger shinobi, approaching the coffee table. With a yawn, he stretched his arms out behind his head and said "I think I'm gonna go to bed, I'm exhau-." He was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Whisper's eyes met his. With a thought and a handsign, they both changed back into their human guises. Though they both trusted Tsunade's word on the seal, this early in their new lives they didn't want to take risks.

Whisper opened the door. A female ANBU was standing there.

"Good evening," she said, with a slight bow. "I was instructed to deliver this package to you by Lady Hokage."

"Oh, thank you!" said Whisper, accepting the proffered parcel with a smile. The ANBU nodded to both of them, then disappeared in the characteristic cloud of smoke.

Whisper swiftly closed the door, and waved her hand in front of her face, thinking "_The mangas make the smoke a lot less irritating."_ She walked over to Kroqgar, who moved a couple of bags off the coffee table, and laid the parcel down upon it. It was a largish box, red and tied with yellow string. Whisper struggled with the knot for a moment, before simply dismissing her transformation jutsu, and cutting through the thread with one of her claws. Kroqgar also dismissed his jutsu, and emerged, coughing, from the smoke. He made a mental note, _"First on my to-do list: Buy a bloody fan."_

Inside the box, resting on top of some wrapped tissue paper was a small note. Picking it up, Kroqgar read aloud, "Kroqgar and Whisper, I hope you are settling in to Konoha well. Inside you'll find a few things that I think you two will need from now on, as well as a couple of things that Lady Tsunade insisted on to make sure you are on time tomorrow. Don't tell her I said this, but… she's not really a morning person. If I were you, I wouldn't be late.

Anyway, consider this Konoha's welcoming gift to its newest shinobi. See you tomorrow morning! Shizune."

As Kroqgar finished the note, a smile spread across his muzzle. He caught eyes with Whisper for a moment, and saw reflected there the same affection he felt for the Hokage's assistant. She really was a very nice person.

Setting the note aside, they unfurled the tissue paper and gazed in wonder at the bounty within.

Sitting there was all the little things one forgets in the rush of falling into a cartoon world and starting a new life as a ninja. There was cutlery and crockery, some towels and bed sheets, even an alarm clock and some food (in it's own special box). In fact, the parcel was very deceiving in that it seemed to be bigger on the inside.

"One of the perks of being Hokage I suppose," said a smiling Whisper.

They rifled through the contents of the parcel for a time before the events of the day truly caught up to them, and Whisper yawned widely. Kroqgar found it infectious.

"I think," he said, rising with a groan, "That it is time for bed."

Whisper hid her answering "Yes" in another yawn as she too rose, and began rifling through one of the clothing bags. Kroqgar chalked it up to one of the few things his life had taught him about the stereotypical female: _clothes_.

Reaching down into the nigh bottomless box before him, he withdrew from the depths a toothbrush and toothpaste, and headed for the bathroom.

…

Whisper opened the door to the master bedroom, just as she heard the wardrobe door opening. Both Kroqgar and Whisper glanced at each other, before quickly looking away in mild embarrassment, and heading to the bed. Each of the shinobis had stripped down to their sleep clothing, Kroqgar in a simple pair of boxer shorts, and Whisper in a similar pair, as well as a singlet. Their state of undress bothered each more than it normally would.

Kroqgar headed around the far side of the bed, and clicked on the lamp on his bedside table, as Whisper turned off the overhead light for the room. She headed toward her side of the bed, appreciative of his choice. He knew that although she was by no means scared of it, she hated sleeping anywhere near where something could climb in. More as a matter of paranoia than anything else. A soft smile crept across her face. _"He always remembers the little things."_

Whisper set the electronic alarm clock she had grabbed on the way in down on her bedside table, flicking on her own lamp as she did so. As Kroqgar noticed her plugging it in he said "Good thinking." She looked at him with a smile, before fiddling with the alarm clock for a moment.

"You think 8 o'clock is early enough?"

After a brief moment of consideration, Kroqgar replied "Yeah, I can't see it taking us more than an hour to get there."

Finally configuring the alarm to the settings desired, Whisper lay down on the bed. She noticed that Kroqgar was already lying down, his back towards her. She did not blame him, he was clearly embarrassed about the situation, and she mirrored his sentiment, and a moment later his method of rest as well.

Their lamps clicked off, and they both lay there in the darkness for a time, their minds awhirl with the events of the day. Their luck and futures had taken incredible leaps and bounds, and tired as they were, they were hard-pressed to achieve sleep. Finally, their minds both came to the same conclusion: I am tired, I am sleepy, I can't sleep if I'm thinking, and therefore I must stop thinking.

After a few minutes, when Whisper's eyes were finally beginning to slide closed, she heard Kroqgar say, "It's funny…"

Though wanting to sleep, her curiosity overwhelmed her fatigue. "Mmmmm?"

"For years I've wondered about Jiraiya's fascination with Tsunade… I mean, she's attractive, but I never thought she was irresistible. Now I know otherwise…"

Turning to face him, she asked "What do you mean?"

"Well," he said, rolling over to face her. A sly grin crept across his muzzle. "Masashi Kishimoto is probably the guy who can draw the best Tsunade, but even he never did her justice. Seeing her chest in real life is just something else entirely."

Mere expression could not express Whisper's shock, followed by absolute amusement. Trying but not completely succeeding to stifle a laugh, she launched at him with her pillow, yelling "You big PERV! Maybe YOU should go train with Jiraiya for three years! YOU BIG PERV!"

He responded in kind, having at her with his own pillow, laughing all the time. A furious pillowfight (punctuated with giggles) ensued, with both lamps nearly being broken more than once.

Finally, after many minutes of spring-creaking fun, Kroqgar managed to pin Whisper to his chest with one arm, whilst whacking her repeatedly with the pillow in his other hand. She struggled and squirmed for almost a minute, trying desperately to break his hold, but in the end had to surrender.

"All right! I give up! You win!"

A triumphant (and still laughing) Kroqgar released his pillow. "I knew you'd come to your senses eventually! None can stand against the pillow lord!" He melodramatically threw his arm out as he mentioned his new title, then just lay there, alternating between panting and laughing, still holding her to him.

As the their heart rates slowed and their laughter died down, Whisper looked up to meet his gaze, then raised herself with her arms, until she hovered above Kroqgar's smiling face. She saw resting in those deep, reflective pools the same love she felt for him. In that happy moment, she leaned forwards and kissed him.

He was not at all surprised by her actions, and when she lowered herself he slid his arms across her back and held her close.

"_My God,"_ he thought, _"Now I know why I always saw so many people doing this! This is _magnificent_!"_ The feel of her resting atop him, of her arms wrapped around his neck, and perhaps most fantastic of all, the feel of her lips pressed against his! Her warmth, her softness, her incredible _feel_…

On the flipside of the coin, Whisper was experiencing almost the same sensations as Kroqgar, if reflected. It felt so right to just rest in his arms, like absolutely nothing bad could happen when he held her. More than almost anything else, it was his solidarity that he loved. He was _there_, he always would be, she could grab him and hold him. Had she any idea how she would've tried to express these emotions through their kiss, but at this stage it was still just a soft embrace, not thought or strategy, just living in the moment.

It didn't last for several minutes, it didn't seem to last an eternity, it felt like she had just kissed Kroqgar for maybe twenty seconds at most. And she couldn't have been even remotely happier.

She raised herself above him again, and her gaze met his. Her shining emerald eyes sparkled with unshed tears of joy, and she saw herself, a big, almost goofy grin on her face, reflected in his yellow eyes, eyes that seemed to shine like the moon. She didn't say anything, afraid that it would shatter the quiet magic of the moment, merely lowered herself onto his chest, his head resting atop hers, and felt his arms wrap around her. Never before had she felt so secure, so happy, so loved.

Kroqgar, his smile set on high beam, felt the steady heart beat of the vixen atop him, and knew for a fact that he had attained Nirvana, a state of supreme bliss and peace. This was real. She was in his arms, and he wouldn't let go for anything. Nothing. Nothing in existence could make him want to end this.

He just sincerely and fervently hoped she fell asleep before she felt the growing bulge in his boxers…

…

The sun rose over Konoha, chasing away the shadow and bathing The Village Hidden in the Leaves in brilliant light. The light revealed people slowly moving about, blearily blinking sleep from their eyes and trying to shake the fatigue from their joints. To the interested observer, the light also revealed several other intriguing sights. Firstly, a man with silver hair in serious need of a brush, with his forehead protector pulled down over his left eye and wearing the vest that denoted rank in the shinobi world, was standing in front of a large polished stone in a clearing within a small forest. Just as the light passed over his face, it sparkled off something rolling down his cheek, before losing its shine as the mask the man wore over the bottom half of his face stopped the sparkling object's path. He seemed to bow his head to the obelisk before him, before putting his hands in his pockets and walking off.

Not too far away, an orange shape with a mass of blond hair was bouncing around a training field, pursued by several identical blurs. The orange shape with a mass of blond hair, otherwise known as Naruto, grinned widely to himself, even as he was running for all he was worth, up and down trees, hiding in shadows, doing everything he could to escape his pursuers. Shadow Clone tag was actually quite fun.

Eventually the light finished its illuminating journey, finally embracing every part of the village, and starting to climb up the Hokage monument behind it. As the light had passed over the Hokage mansion at the base of the monument, it had revealed a very nervous looking Shizune, her arms crowded with full sake bottles. Although she didn't show it, she was at this point probably doing the scariest thing she'd ever done in her life. She had to be dead silent, but she also had to hurry, because any second sh-.

"WHAT THE **FUCK!**"

Shizune jumped a good six feet as the air trebled around her with the yell of her mentor, the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade. Although she loved her like a sister and a mother all rolled into one, Shizune had no doubt the Tsunade would kill her for getting rid of her sake.

Slowly.

She broke into a sprint.

…

As the light cascaded through the open windows of a small apartment in the shinobi residential district of Konoha, it revealed a familiar figure rising out of bed.

Whisper, a big smile plastered over her muzzle, laced her fingers above her head and reached as high as she could, bending backwards as she did, her tail arching behind her. Unlike the last time she had woken up in this world, the moment her eyes had opened she had known exactly where she was and what was happening. Ever since that moment, she couldn't stop smiling. For the first time in a long, long time, she was looking forward to her day.

A spring in her step, she headed to the living room. A brief sniff of the moisture-laden air told her that somebody had already had a shower that morning, and she was willing to bet it was Kroqgar. The smile on her face got a bit wider as she recalled the exact events of the previous night, and only the slightest red tinge coloured her ears.

The thought of having a shower made her mind turn towards the time. She glanced at the alarm clock, still sitting on her bedside table, and was surprised to see it read 6:30 AM. She stepped back over to it, and switched off the alarm, seeing no need to keep it running. Considering how excited she was, Whisper just supposed that she just wanted to make the most of her day, so her body had woken her up early.

All these happy thoughts, running through her head, she stepped into the living room. She saw Kroqgar bending over the coffee table, rummaging through one of the shopping bags filled with clothing. Belatedly, she noticed, as her hands flew to her mouth, that he was naked.

…

Hearing the click of a door behind him, Kroqgar swiftly turned on the spot and beheld Whisper. She was simply staring at him, eyes wide, and hands clasped over her mouth. Suddenly, her gaze flashed downwards, and her ears turned as red as the setting sun.

…

In a blurred movement, Whisper turned her back on Kroqgar, and in the space of a second blurted out "Oh-my-God-Kroqgar-I'm-so-sorry!" Her heart pounded in her chest.

Kroqgar, surprised that his ears hadn't caught on fire with his blush, fumbled to slip on a pair of underwear and some pants he had fished out, whilst saying "It's alright Whisper, it's alright! I know you didn't mean to!"

Whisper sprinted back into the bedroom, and quickly closed the door behind her, saying, "I'm sorry!" once more. Kroqgar stood there looking at the door for a moment, his blush steadily fading, before heaving a sigh and turning back to continue looking for the remainder of his outfit.

…

Whisper sat down on the bed, eyes still wide, blush not receding an inch. Gingerly she moved her hands away from her face, and with a start noticed there was blood on them. It took her a moment to process that she had a nosebleed. At that moment she realized two things. One; that now that they were in an anime world, they would be bound to the anime laws of nosebleeds and compulsive falling down, and two; she could never, _ever_,reveal to Kroqgar that he'd given her a nosebleed.

She went through the wardrobe and into the bathroom, finding it mercifully empty. She washed her hands, and splashed some water on her face, before simply standing over the basin and staring into the mirror for a moment, zoned out. As she stood there, enjoying a few moments of the absence of thought, she became more attuned to her body, and noticed a warmth coming from her lower regions. Snapping out of her reverie, she held onto the sensation, and investigated it. Staring down into her pants, she suddenly became acutely aware of just what exactly she was feeling, and let out a Hinata-ish "Eep!" at the realization.

She stood there for a moment, simply gazing down into the dark confines of her lower garments, before she suddenly looked over at the shower. As she gazed at the metal showerhead, a single drop of water fell from it to burst on the porcelain tub beneath, and a tiny, miniaturized and underdeveloped voice who went by the name of "libido" looked though her eyes and said to the shower, _"Looks like I don't need you to get wet anymore."_

…

Kroqgar, now fully dressed, walked into the bedroom, just as Whisper came in from the bathroom. He blushed slightly upon seeing her, but noticed that she went redder than Naruto's demon chakra. He decided to settle this now.

"Whisp, can you sit down for a second?"

She silently nodded, and sat down on the bed. He came and crouched in front of her, and took one of her hands.

"It wasn't your fault that you saw me… like that. It was stupid of me to do it, I thought you were still asleep but I must've woken you up."

"But…y'know…I saw your…y'_know_…"

"So you did. So what? I don't care. Does it change how you feel about me?"

Whisper looked sideways for a moment, examining her thoughts. She realized that no, she didn't feel any different. Her feelings were still the same, if a little bit more… charged.

Kroqgar could read her like a book. "See?" he said, smiling. "Doesn't change a thing."

His smile was infectious. She soon found herself grinning wanly back at him, and that steadily changed into a full-blown beam. Then she started giggling.

Kroqgar started laughing as well. "I knew that one day we'd laugh about this", he said, "I just didn't think it would be so soon."

Their eyes met, and the laughter died down. Kroqgar leaned in and kissed her. Whisper was not surprised in the least, and leaned into the kiss, placing her hands on either side of his head. After a moment Kroqgar leaned back, and broke the kiss. They just sat there looking into each other's eyes and smiling for a few seconds, before Kroqgar rose to his feet, and helped whisper off the bed. She let out a sound of surprise as he kept pulling her, into his arms. He held her for a moment, and she just enjoyed the feel of being held.

Whisper broke the simple embrace saying "Much as I want to, we can't just stay here all day (her eyes flashed at the implications that suggestion entailed), and I want to do a bit of exploring before we go see Tsunade."

"Yeah, same here", said Kroqgar. "You go hop in the shower, and I'll go make us something for breakfast."

"Wait, before you do…" Whisper said, turning him back around to face her, "I just wanna ask something."

"Go for it."

"Why," she said frankly, "were you naked?"

"Oh," he said, a slight tinge of red colouring his ears, "I'd just gotten out of the shower."

"Well, why didn't you have a towel?"

He looked at her confused for a moment, before a massive grin spread across his muzzle. "A ridiculously awesome reason. Come with me!" And with that, he proceeded to drag her into the bathroom.

"What is it?" Whisper asked curiously. She grinned. "Your not gonna strip are you?" she joked, though the steadily growing voice in her head couldn't help but hope.

He chuckled, before shaking his head. He led her over to the basin, and turned on the cold water.

"Put your arm under there," he instructed. Curious, but trusting, Whisper complied, wetting her forearm from the elbow down.

"Ok," said Kroqgar, turning off the faucet. "Now, transform into a human." Again, Whisper couldn't fathom his reasoning, but still complied, intrigued as to where he was heading.

With a puff of smoke, Whisper transformed into her human guise, pink hair and all.

"Check your arm", said Kroqgar, smiling. Whisper raised her arm, and looked at it for a moment, before her jaw dropped faster than the Sharingan could track.

"No way", she said, awestruck.

"It's true."

"Holy shit, that's awesome! It's _dry_!" Whisper laughed, waving her arm around, relishing in the feel of not being damp. One of the curses of being coated in fur, it took either of them some time to completely dry off, leaving that lingering and unpleasant damp feeling, and, if not dealt with, leaving a smell akin to the classic "wet dog". But now that was no longer a problem! They could dry instantaneously!

Kroqgar laughed his agreement, pleased with his incredible discovery of the instant dryer. "Just transform in the shower, then when you come out transform back. You'll be completely dry."

She turned around and hugged him, an odd feeling as it was the first time they had embraced when one of them was human but the other was not.

A thought occurred to Whisper. "Wait, this isn't just appearance is it? Will I still be wet if I turn back, just not wet in this form?"

Grinning, Kroqgar said, "One way to find out!" With a thought, Whisper dismissed her transformation.

Touching the vibrant orange fur on her arm, and finding it to be quite dry, Whisper let loose a cheer, ecstatic to have that lifelong annoyance solved.

"Now," said Kroqgar sagely, "You know why I didn't have a towel."

"So I do," she said softly, before breaking into a huge smile and saying, "Alright, time for my shower! Better get out of here Kroq, I'm about to get nekkid!"

With a laugh, he retreated from the bathroom, closing the door behind him and heading for the kitchen. Like a thunderbolt, a thought suddenly struck him. Without a second thought, he made a clone, and sent it off to do its task, as he ran back to the bathroom door.

"Whisper! Are you undressed yet?"

"No, come in."

Opening the door, Kroqgar saw Whisper standing next to the shower, thankfully still clothed, with her hand under the running water.

"Thank God!" he said, relieved.

"What is it?"

Kroqgar smiled, and reached out a hand to accept the proffered bundle from his clone. As soon as it handed it over, the clone transformed into a human, before jumping out the window and poofing out of existence, so it didn't get the apartment smoky.

"I didn't want you to make the same mistake I did," said Kroqgar, hanging Whisper's clothes on the towel rack. "Besides," he added, throwing her a lopsided grin, "If you walked out there naked I think I'd have a heart attack."

Whisper's laughter followed Kroqgar out of the bathroom, as he closed the door behind him. As he was walking to the bottomless box Shizune had sent them to find them something for breakfast, he staggered a little, and a hand flew to his head.

"Whoa," he said, as he gained the memories of his clone. "Intense." Though the feeling was oddly overwhelming, Kroqgar got the distinct impression that after a couple more tries at it, gaining the memories of many clones at a time wouldn't be too much of an issue, probably due to the flashes of insight and knowledge that he and Whisper kept getting.

…

Whisper was still chuckling as she warmed up the shower, thinking of Kroqgar's idea of her walking out naked. Of course she wasn't going to do it, but as she undressed and caught sight of herself in the mirror above the basin the idea appealed to her more than it would have once.

As she stepped into the flow of water, feeling the hot liquid course over her naked form, she breathed a sigh of relief, and felt the rest of her body begin to match the warmth of her lower regions. She began to rub herself down, and let her mind wander. A thought came, unbidden, across the landscape of her mind, and it was amongst the first of such thoughts that no doubt came from the part of her brain firmly under the sway of her libido, that the rest of her brain was able to agree with.

"_I like"_, she thought, a predatory grin more suited to her fox form gracing her features as she thought of her earlier encounter with a disrobed Kroqgar, _"what I saw…"_

…

Anko Mitarashi strolled down the Konoha high street, her trench coat flapping in the morning breeze. She didn't like to be up this early, but once a week her favourite dango shop, Bishoku's Dango Bistro, got fresh ingredients, and she simply couldn't resist fresh dango. One hand held in her trenchcoat, the other holding the skewer on which the delicious dumplings were impaled, Anko was in heaven.

She never enjoyed the sensation of dragging herself out of bed this early, few people do, if any, but whenever she did find herself awake this early, she was always glad she did. There was so much more time left in the day, so much more opportunity to train, work or relax. She looked around as she walked, drinking in the sights of her village. She cast an irritated glance at the flesh-coloured bra she wore. If it was up to her, she wouldn't be wearing it at all, but society demanded that underneath her trench coat and the essentially transparent fishnet shirt she wore underneath it she cover herself up. The new Hokage, Tsunade, especially vehemently pursued this restriction. She'd even gone as far as to offer her assistance in getting a bra on Anko whether she liked it or not after a young boy, fourteen years old tops, had been shown into her office with a small, purple snake clamped over an especially sensitive part of his anatomy for, in Anko's words, "Looking where he fucking shouldn't."

Suddenly, a voice behind her said, "Um…Excuse me, Miss?"

Good mood and all, Anko wasn't known as Konoha's "Crazy Snake Lady" for nothing, and she had a rep to keep up. So she turned towards the voice, a retort hot on her tongue…

…only to come face to face with one of the most sexy people she had ever seen.

Oh my God, he was _gorgeous!_ He towered over her, easily six feet tell, and he looked like he could fold her in half with two fingers. _"Then again,"_ thought Anko, as her gaze roamed up and down the man before her, _"That's not a half bad idea."_

Noticing that she was simply staring into his odd green-blue eyes, and that a slight blush was marching across her cheeks, she cleared her throat and said with a touch of her old fire "Yeah? What is it?"

"Sorry to disturb you, but I'm new here. Could you tell me how to get to the Memorial Stone?"

Anko half-lidded her eyes and with an incredibly lustful grin stepped forward, getting into the personal space of the person before her (and safely stowing her dango away). She could tell that she was probably more than five years his senior, but she honestly didn't care. "I can tell you how to get to all sorts of places, big guy."

…

Kroqgar used every ounce of willpower in his possession to stop his jaw from dropping, but even that was not enough to hold back the slightest blush. Here was Anko Mitarashi, _the_ Anko Mitarashi, and if he allowed it (and maybe if he didn't) she would do anything she wanted with him. Or _to_ him, depending on how she felt.

Kroqgar had always had a soft spot, that steadily became a hard spot, for Anko. He didn't know what it was about her, though he speculated it was her hairstyle for some reason, but he had always found her to be almost irresistibly sexy. Whisper frequently teased him about it, though it was always good-natured. She knew that he was simply attracted to Anko, but that he cared for her.

So, when they were ambling around the village, hand-in-hand, merely taking in the atmosphere, and Whisper had spotted Anko, she couldn't resist pointing her out to Kroqgar. Things escalated quickly, as she dared him to talk to her, one of the scariest kunoichi in existence. And off he had gone to do it.

Now her plan was blowing up in her face spectacularly, as she watched Anko step close to Kroqgar, and saw the look on Anko's face. She decided to step in when Anko started running her hand up and down Kroqgar's arm.

"Kroq!" she called out, waving her hand in the air and walking over to him. Kroqgar whipped his head around, a look of intense relief on his face. Anko simply looked mildly annoyed.

"Hey", Whisper said to Kroqgar with a smile, taking his hand in hers and just for good measure reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Whatcha doin' Kroqy?" He winced at her improvised nickname.

"Oh, hey Whisper! I'm just talking to my new friend Anko here. Whisper, this is Anko, Anko, this is Whisper."

"Hey Anko", said Whisper brightly, "Nice to meet you!" She offered out her hand, which Anko reluctantly shook.

"Is this your girlfriend?" she asked Kroqgar.

"Uhh…" he replied, not expecting this. He really hadn't thought along that line, and a quick glance at Whisper revealed that she'd never thought about that either. Still, it took barely a moment's thought for him to come to a decision.

"Yes," he said, smiling, "She is."

Whisper's grip on his hand tightened almost impereceptibly. His smile widened.

But then Anko said something that neither of them expected. She stepped in close to Whisper, much like she had to Kroqgar, and smiled the same smile, whilst running her finger underneath Whisper's chin. "I'm sure she won't mind sharing."

Kroqgar's jaw dropped like an anvil, and even Whisper looked mildly surprised. But it wasn't over yet. Anko stepped even closer to Whisper, so close that Whisper felt their breasts meet, and leaned over, so that her breath ran over Whisper's ear. Whisper suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that Anko's nipples were hard. "In fact," breathed the Special Jounin, whilst giving Kroqgar a look that clearly said _"All this and more could be yours"_, "Your not too bad yourself missy."

Whisper's jaw replaced Kroqgar's in biting the dust, but Kroqgar himself had to bring both hands to his face to stifle his nosebleed.

…

Almost two hours later, Kroqgar and Whisper were hurtling along Konoha's rooftops, the world blurring around them. Trapped in Kroqgar's lie, they were both personally led to the Memorial Stone by Anko, all chatting along the way. The tension of Anko's initial wiles on the both of them had faded somewhat, but her continued flirtatious ways, plus the dropping of several thinly veiled invitations extended to each of them and sometimes both had left both of the genin somewhat uncomfortable. Though both knew exactly what she was talking about, not having lived sheltered lives at all, they were not yet ready to think about a sexual relationship, let alone throwing someone else in, especially someone as… well, as _horny_ as Anko. She seemed to show no end to her lustful smiles and smouldering glances, or preference to either Kroqgar or Whisper, leading them to believe that she was a very open-minded kunoichi. This belief made the both of them secretly consider her proposals, though Whisper's considerations were limited to her libido's mind. Kroqgar though was almost drooling at the prospect, though he knew that several steps would have to be taken between him and Whisper before they were ready for anything like that.

However, in the spaces between the overtly sexual comments, they actually saw glimpses of the real Anko, as she let her guard down a little around them. The Special Jounin would never reveal it to anyone, but aside from being physically attracted to the both of them, they somehow put her at ease. They were easy to talk to. So even after they had gotten to the Memorial Stone, they continued to talk about things, steadily learning more about each other, and Kroqgar and Whisper learning more about their new world. (Both the younger shinobi were surprised when Anko lapsed into respectful silence when confronted with the tragically long list displayed on the Memorial Stone. As they were walking away from it, Anko even seemed to bow to the end of the list, where there was a name carved out particularly skillfully, before hurrying after them.)

They had lost track of the time, and, slightly worried, Whisper had grabbed the nearest village and asked him what the time was. With a glance at his watch, the old man had said "8:59, youngin'."

Kroqgar and Whisper, panicked beyond almost all belief, said incredibly rushed goodbyes to Anko, and left the somewhat confused Special Jounin far behind them in their rush to get to their meeting with Tsunade on time. Had they known that just that very morning, some unknown thief had snuck into the Hokage's house and stolen her sake, no doubt their pace would double.

As they leaped from rooftop to rooftop, a pair of shapes materialized before each of them, forcing them to use chakra to stick to the roof they were standing on, lest they crash into the two. Immediately they saw that the pair before them were ANBU.

"Excuse us," said one of the ANBU, "But did you know you were exceeding the speed limit?"

Kroqgar and Whisper deadpanned. "Sp-speed limit?", asked Whisper. "Seriously?"

"I'm afraid so", said the other ANBU. "We are going to have to fine you."

"But… But we are new to Konoha!" said Kroqgar, aware that a speeding fine would probably reflect badly on them, after less than 24 hours in the village. "We didn't even know there _was_ a speed limit!"

"I'm sorry," said the first ANBU, pulling out a notebook and a pencil, "But ignorance to the rules is no excuse not to follow them." Seeing the dismayed look on the faces of the two shinobi, the ANBU stalled in writing their ticket. "Look," she said, deciding to give these two a break (and causing the other ANBU to sigh heavily), "Unless you can give me a really good reason why you were speeding, I have to fine you."

"We are going to be late to a meeting with Tsunade!" Kroqgar and Whisper yelled simultaneously.

The ANBUs immediately looked at each other and nodded. The second ANBU turned to them and said, "Let's go, we'll escort you! Hurry!" Konoha's newest shinobi stood there stunned for a moment before taking off after the two ANBU.

Along the way several other ANBU materialized near them, obviously about to fine them but noticing that they were being escorted. Just as a clock began to strike nine, the Hokage Mansion came into view. Kroqgar and Whisper groaned audibly. They were never going to make it at this pace!

Suddenly, the two ANBU reached back and grabbed each of them. There was a whirl of leaves and smoke all around them, and their feet slammed into something solid. When the smoke cleared a split second later, they saw that they were in the waiting room just outside of the Hokage's office, with an amused Shizune looking at them.

The clock finished striking just as one of the ANBU said "Good luck", and the two elite ninja disappeared again. Kroqgar and Whisper simply stood there, dazed, for a moment, before turning to each other with big grins and saying "Teleportation Jutsu!"

Shizune let out a laugh before saying "That's the one! Though everyone just calls it Shunshin."

From the other side of the door came Tsunade's voice, "Shizune, you can send them in now."

With a smile, Shizune rose and pushed open the door for them. As they passed her and walked into Tsunade's brightly lit office, she whispered to them "Just in time…"

...

Whew! Chapter 5 done! It's extra long, too make up for the 4 or so months I've left you hanging (sarcasm). I just wanna say, that not matter how long it takes, I've made this story my personal goal, and **will** complete it. To all who are wondering when, if ever, our two young heroes are going to "get together", please be patient. It will come, but not for a while. I want to keep ramping up the sexual tension until it gets unbearable, and then let it explode in a suitably sexual metaphor. It will happen though, make no doubt. If only for the fact that due to that I'll get so much more traffic (evil laugh). Also, Anko is a personal favourite of mine, and in my opinion the sexiest character in the show, so she will definitely be playing a major role. And yes, almost certainly she will be involved in Kroqgar and Whisper's eventual bedroom adventures.

Also, just want to say that the spelling is a little odd. I'm Australian, but my spell checker is American, and it autocorrects some of my stuff to American, but leaves other stuff Australian. I noticed both "color" and "colour" in the same paragraph before. So, just roll with it.

Lastly, please review and comment! I don't know how I'm doing, or whether anyone's bothering to read it, if I don't hear from you guys!


	6. A Meeting, A Greeting, and an Upcoming B

**Chapter 6: A Meeting, A Greeting, and an Upcoming Beating**

Kroqgar and Whisper blinked in the brightness of the morning sun streaming into the Hokage's office. They saw Tsunade sitting there, hands laced under her chin, with a slightly peeved look on her face. From the far-off look she had, they could tell that it wasn't directed at them. Little did they know that theft (especially, for some reason, of sake) was about to be given a much harsher punishment in Konoha.

Letting their gaze roam around the room, they spotted two more figures, and even after a day spent in the village, they both started in surprise. Standing just to the side of Tsunade's desk, dressed in her usual single-red-sleeved dress, was Kurenai Yuuhi, Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress, said to be more attractive than the mirages she was skilled at, and several times deadlier. She appeared to be studying them, though not in a rude sense, and gave a friendly smile as they caught her eye.

Even more impressive however, was the figure leaning against the wall, quintessential orange literature in hand. Kakashi Hatake. Though both genin were fans of most of Konoha's ninja, Kakashi they held in especially high regard. Even they didn't know quite what it was about him, (perhaps because they both thought he was hilarious) but he was among their favourite characters. While not quite as impressive as Naruto, just seeing the bi-eyed jounin in person rendered them speechless.

"Kroqgar, Whisper," said Tsunade, getting both of the genin's attention and causing their heads to whip about, "Allow me to introduce Kurenai Yuuhi and Kakashi Hatake."

"Nice to meet you," Kurenai said with a smile. Kroqgar and Whisper both shook her hand. Kakashi merely waved mutely, eye roving the page in front of him.

"Although I suppose", continued the sannin with a laugh, "You know them better than I do."

This earned a smile from the two newest shinobi, a curious look from Kurenai and a barely noticeable quirked eyebrow from Kakashi, who had yet to look up from his novel. "Lady Hokage?" asked Kurenai curiously.

"I'll let them explain Kurenai. Shizune! Come in, and lock the doors."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," came the reply. Just as the raven-haired kunoichi was about to lock the doors, they all heard someone shout "Wait!" from the other side. All of them stood perplexed for a moment, as Tsunade heaved a sigh. A panting Jiraiya, white hair, giant scroll, lecherous grin and all, burst into the room. He bent, hands on his knees, and panted, catching his breath. A small notepad was visible in his hand. More prepared this time, Kroqgar and Whisper were able to hold in any outward signs of amazement, but were reeling in dropped jaws on the inside.

"And this," said the Hokage wearily, "is Jiraiya. I hate to admit it, but I definitely know him better than you two do."

"Sorry I'm late," said Jiraiya, talking to Tsunade and completely ignoring Kroqgar and Whisper. A grin that was more than a little bit creepy crept onto his face. "I lost track of the time while I was researching."

A nerve twitched in Tsunade's brow. "Research?" A moment later Tsunade was simply no longer there. They all heard a deafening boom, and suddenly there was a hole in the wall with two clogged feet sticking out of it, and a small notepad burning on the floor. Tsunade, whistling merrily, walked back to her desk whilst brushing the dirt from her hands. "Now, where were we? Ah yes, Shizune, please lock the doors. Kurenai, can you please hand out these tags?"

Kurenai handed a tag to everyone in the room, including a slightly unsteady Jiraiya.

"Everyone, apply them to your neck, over your throat" instructed the Hokage. After everyone complied, she formed a hand seal in front of her, before swearing loudly. At everyone's (minus Kakashi) confused looks, she explained, "My jutsu needs an enclosed space to work."

Everyone clued on and glanced at the gaping hole in the wall Jiraiya had left.

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade said sharply.

"Eh?"

"Your research", she said, finger's sketching sarcastic quotation marks around the word, "And lateness caused this. The least you can do is fix the hole."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" replied the other sannin indignantly. "I thought I'd have another couple of hours at least, why the hell is Cyclops over there here on time?" he said, gesturing at Kakashi. At this Tsunade grinned evilly and Kakashi twitched noticeably behind his mask.

"Well, he didn't listen to my threats to make him late in more ways than one," said Tsunade, amusement evident in her tone, "So I just told him to get here three hours ago. He actually made it on time."

Everyone in the room laughed at this comment, and Kakashi's sigh was lost in the sounds of mirth. After the laughter died down, Jiraiya looked at the wall and said, "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

He made a single hand seal, before spitting out a copious amount of mud, and forming a temporary fix for the wall. The mud hardened instantly.

"Chakra enhanced?" asked Tsunade.

"You know it."

"Ok then, let's get started. Hidden Style: Dead Silence!" she said, forming a hand seal. The familiar shadow passed over the room.

"Alright, what your all about to be told is an S-Rank secret. You know what that means, and the punishment entailed for revealing it," said Tsunade, gaze roving across everyone in front of her. Kakashi had not yet bothered to look up from his book.

"Kroqgar, Whisper, why don't you go ahead and show everyone? It's your story anyway. Tell them everything."

The two genin acknowledged her words with a nod. They glanced nervously at each other, before simultaneously dropping their disguises. Jiraiya's eyebrows rose high on his forehead and Kurenai's jaw dropped. The silence that followed was only broken by a _thunk_ coming from behind them. They all turned to see Kakashi, single eye wide open, and his lewd book on the floor in front of him.

"Ok," said the jounin after a brief silence, standing up straight. "You've got my attention now."

…

Almost an hour later, with the help of Tsunade and Shizune, the whole story was told. Some time ago Kurenai had sunk into a chair, dazed at the prospects being laid out before her. Running one hand through her hair, she did her best to comprehend the story the two before her had spun, but even with her face screwed up in thought, wrapping her not inconsiderable mind around the whole tale was not easy. Being a lot older and more well traveled, Jiraiya had somewhat more ease accepting their story, but that wasn't saying much. He paced the length of the room, hands clasped behind his back, in what Whisper had always dubbed his "Serious-mode". Asking only short, sharp questions, keeping quiet and listening. Tsunade vouched for the two kids, but still… another reality? A trans-dimensional transportation bubble?

Even Kool as a Kukumber Kakashi was showing mild signs of stress and deep thought. He had taken to leaning against the wall again, (book safely stored away) with his brow furrowed staring at some point on the ground. He was even absently twirling a kunai on his finger, the knife going faster and faster as he grew more and more thoughtful.

For some time after the story was told, questions were asked of Kroqgar and Whisper. From Jiraiya and Kurenai came much the same questions that were asked of Kroqgar and Whisper yesterday, though even Tsunade and Shizune participated, asking questions they had since thought of. Jiraiya probed especially deeply about how Kroqgar and Whisper had come into being, even pushing Whisper to the brink of tears as he tried to draw facts from them. It took a dangerous growl coming from Kroqgar, followed by an equally deadly growl from Tsunade to put a halt to his questioning. Though he would question Tsunade about it later.

Kakashi, however, had been silent the entire time, merely observing them. No one could tell what was going on behind that mask of his. Finally, after Jiraiya and to a lesser extent Kurenai had finished their mild interrogation, the former ANBU Captain spoke up.

"Well, I must say that you have told one of the most absolutely ridiculous stories I've ever heard in all my years as a shinobi. However, I am unable to think of any other less ridiculous way for you to have the knowledge you do, so I am inclined to believe you." The vote of confidence from the jounin heartened Kroqgar and Whisper, who had begun to feel quite worried about their futures, especially after Jiraiya's zealous pursuit of answers.

"However…"

Oh shit.

"Before I allow you to be trained, before I allow you to walk around my village, and before I trust you in any way I need an answer to one question."

The silence spiraled horribly. The lanky jounin slowly meandered over in front of the Hokage's desk, and stood directly in front of the two genin. Tsunade didn't say anything, guessing where he was going with this.

Both Kroqgar and Whisper gasped as he lifted his headband, and revealed his Sharingan eye. He trained it on the both of them, and furrowed his brow slightly, to let them know he was deadly serious. And when Kakashi got deadly serious, people usually died.

"Why do you want to become shinobi?"

Neither Kroqgar nor Whisper faltered in any way, and responded instantly and simultaneously "To protect the only friends we've ever had." Both of them met Kakashi's eyes as they said it, determination etched across their faces. They hadn't rehearsed that, they hadn't prepared it in any way, it was simply the answer they both believed in.

Kakashi lowered his headband back over his eye. Though he did not show it, their answer satisfied him immensely. Their could be no better response, and his Sharingan had made sure that neither of them was deceptive or subversive in any way.

"Well…" he said, serious expression never leaving his face. How he enjoyed messing with people. He allowed an almost hidden smile to grace his features, showing only in the curvature of his eye. "That's good enough for me. Although that does raise other questions. For example, and I don't mean to be rude, but I didn't think you knew anyone here, how could you have any friends to protect?"

Whisper grinned. "Your forgetting that we know a lot of the people here better than most."

"True enough," conceded the jounin, "But still, that was on paper (saying it out loud still struck Kakashi as incredibly disconcerting). This is the real thing. How can they be your friends?"

"Alright, to answer that, we're gonna need to ask _you_ a question," said Kroqgar, looking up at Kakashi. "What is a friend?"

There was a collective peak in the interest of everyone in the room, as they all grew curious as to where the young shinobi was going with this. Kroqgar noticed the sudden increase in the intensity of their looking, but did not tear his eyes away from Kakashi's, a firm look on his face.

"Well…" said the jounin haltingly, "a friend is someone who you know, like, and can trust."

"Exactly. And from what I've told you about our world, aside from each other, who do you think we could count as friends?"

Understanding began to dawn in Kakashi's eye. "No one."

Whisper smiled sadly as Kroqgar nodded. "No one. This might sound rude, but remember, to us back then, you were all characters who weren't real. We got desperate. People just can't live without friends without going down a dark path, so we turned to the closest thing to people we knew, liked, and trusted. We turned to all of you."

Jiraiya, Kakashi and Tsunade were simply too experienced to show their emotions openly in a situation like this, but inside all their hearts went out to the two before them. Kurenai and Shizune fared worse, both gasping, and Shizune's hands flying to her mouth.

"Looking back on it now, it seems so pathetic…" said Whisper, gaze lowering to the floor, "but we were just… it was…" She couldn't continue. Kroqgar reached over and grasped her hand, but before he could help her any further, he was beaten to the punch.

Kurenai, maternal instincts blazing, wrapped her arm around Whisper's shoulders, and pulled the vixen into her embrace, comforting her. It was a surreal feeling for Whisper, being embraced by someone who… well, who wasn't Kroqgar. She came to enjoy it though, and visibly relaxed in the older woman's arms.

It was a calculated, yet instinctive move on Kurenai's part. Not only did she need to comfort the girl, but by holding her like so, she showed her that she wasn't alone.

"I promise you," she said, sincerity and commitment burning in her unusual red eyes, "that when you turn to us from now on, we will turn back." She rose, and took her seat again, but didn't miss the whispered "_Thank you…_" that followed after her. Kroqgar didn't say anything. He didn't need to. His smile spoke volumes.

"Well", said Tsunade, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. Though coming out of her shell, she was still awkward in emotional situations. "Now that that's settled… Kroqgar, Whisper, meet your new senseis. Originally, I had planned for Kroqgar to go with Kurenai and Whisper with Kakashi, but I think it might work better if we change that around. Kurenai?" She motioned for the jounin to lean in. "I was going to put Kroqgar with you because, and call it a stereotype, but I honestly think he'd work well with an Inuzuka," she whispered, "but after seeing how you got along with Whisper, I think she'd work better with you. And I think she really needs a friend, a type of friend I don't think Kakashi could be for her. No offense to him, but… I think this one just needs a woman's touch."

Kurenai's red lips parted in a smile. "I couldn't agree more, Lady Hokage. I've always thought of myself as a big sister type."

Kurenai stepped back, and Tsunade turned to Kroqgar and Whisper with a smile on her face. "Congratulations, Kroqgar, you are now an official member of Team 7, Whisper, you are now an official member of Team 8."

Both of the young shinobi leapt from their chairs with shouts of joy, and embraced one another, before accepting the congratulations of the others present. Shizune was hugs all round, simply happy for the turn-around in the lives of her two new friends, and a slightly embarrassed Tsunade was caught in the crossfire. Kroqgar was in a daze, simply returning the embrace of whomever he felt engage him, be it handshake or hug. Judging from the size of the chest he felt pressed against him at one stage, even Tsunade had offered a hug as congratulations. Whisper, even in her ecstatic state of mind, still took care to avoid an embrace with Jiraiya, though even Kakashi did not escape her hug-rampage, accepting it with a weary sigh.

A booming crash resounded through the room, shocking everyone. They turned to see Tsunade, fist extended, facing a large hole in the wall, directly next to the previous one she had made. In the distance, a white-haired blur was hurtling towards the ground. A snarling Tsunade walked up to the hole before shouting "A HUG IS ABOVE THE WAIST YOU PERVERT!" Almost as an afterthought she quickly performed the same jutsu Jiraiya had, sealing the second pain-induced hole.

Kroqgar shook hands with Kakashi, getting a slight thrill as he said "It's an honour to learn from you Kakashi-sensei."

The lanky jounin's eye crinkled in the only visible sign of his smile as he said "Likewise." Whisper and Kurenai didn't say a thing, conveying their emotions through the embrace they shared.

Everyone eventually took their seats (or….stands?…) again, and Tsunade slipped back into Hokage status.

"So, now that you are official active shinobi, there are a few things to discuss. Firstly: What level you are. Normally, I would assume that you were both just average genin, however you two are anything but normal. So today you are both going to be having a spar with your new senseis, after you meet your teams. We would usually just have the whole team attempt the bell test again, but seeing as the rest of them have already done it, and you… well, I suppose you could call it prior knowledge, so there's no point in doing it again. Which reminds me: your teams. Do we tell them or not?"

Kroqgar and Whisper had already foreseen this, and had their answer prepared.

"We think it should be on a person to person basis," said Whisper, drawing curious looks from those present. "Well, if we all think someone is ready to know, then we tell them. If we don't… then we don't."

Tsuande considered this for a moment, before nodding. "Sounds alright. Kurenai, Kakashi, what do you think? Are any of them ready?" Kurenai adopted a thoughtful look, and Kakashi raised a hand to his chin.

"Well…" the genjutsu mistress said, "I think we could tell Shino the whole story and he might raise his eyebrows, so I don't think he's a problem. Kiba, I hate to say, is definitely not ready, he's just not mature enough yet. Hinata… I think she could handle it, but not all at once. After you get to know her it should be fine. But I really must say that I wouldn't want any of my students to be told your secret, unless you revealed it to all of them. I don't want them to have to keep secrets like that from each other, it could ruin their teamwork and even their trust." Tsunade nodded absently, understanding where the jounin was coming from.

"Kroqgar, Whisper," Kurenai continued, turning to face them, "please keep this to yourselves until they're all ready." The genin both nodded and gave their words they would not reveal themselves until Kurenai gave the all-clear.

'Well, that's Team 8 settled," said Tsunade, letting out a breath. "Kakashi, what about Team 7?"

Fingers stroking his chin, the jounin continued thinking for a moment before saying anything.

"Sasuke, definitely not. Not that he isn't mature, but we all know what he's been going through recently, and I suspect that you two know something… unpleasant about his future." He sent a glance at Kroqgar and Whisper, who didn't flinch, informing the Copy Ninja they were adamant in their refusal to reveal the future. He sighed, continuing, "I think adding the additional stress of this information to his mind would be unhealthy right now, so he's out. Sakura?… another "no", I think. She's simply too infatuated with Sasuke right now, and could either tell him about it just to gain his attention, or dangle it above Naruto's head to torment him. Speaking of Naruto…"

Everyone looked on curiously as Kakashi lapsed into silence, obviously in deep thought, before starting in surprise as he burst out laughing.

"Strange as it sounds, I think Naruto is the most ready of all of them," the jounin said though a smile, after his mirth had subsided. "He could handle the information, after you let him get to know you a little it won't change his opinion of you, and if you make him promise not to tell anyone, he'll die before he does."

"So you think we could tell them one by one, instead of all at once?" asked Tsunade.

"I would wait to tell Sasuke and Sakura at the same time, but Naruto? Honestly, if you spent enough time with him today, you could probably tell him tonight."

Kroqgar and Whisper both beamed at this admission. "Good," said the vixen, "because he's the one we want to tell most of all." She continued, in response to everyone's curious looks, "Well, he's the main character of the series, back in our world. Even the whole thing is called "Naruto". Considering this concerns him so heavily, we think it's only fair he be told. Plus…" She paused, seeming to collect her thoughts for a moment. She looked up at everyone, and said nervously, "We just want to be his friends."

Everyone in the room, even Tsunade, smiled at that. They all, to one extent or another, knew of Naruto's past, and how lonely he was. Having these two become friends of his could only help him.

"It's more than just becoming his friends though," said Kroqgar, causing everyone to look at him. "We just want to _know_ him. You've all got to understand, where we come from, running 100 meters in under 10 seconds is amazing, jumping 3 meters in the air unaided is pretty much impossible, and chakra is considered just stupid. So, any one of you is astounding to us. Kurenai," he continued, gesturing towards her, "Konoha's genjutsu mistress! Kakashi, the copy ninja! Tsunade, legendary Sannin, and Shizune, her assistant! Your all celebrities, heroes to us, Naruto most of all! He's one of the most incredible people we've ever heard about, fiction or otherwise, and now we get the chance to be his_ friends_? There is no way we are going to pass that up."

"Alright," said Tsunade, taking control of the discussion once more. "Kakashi? Observe how Naruto responds to and interacts with Kroqgar today, and if you think he's ready, you can both tell him everything tonight. You'll be there as well Kakashi. I want someone he knows and trusts there, just in case this is a bit too much for him. Clear?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage," the lanky jounin responded.

"Now, the last thing I can think of before we are done here is these weapons of yours Shizune tells me about," Tsunade continued, tilting her head in the younger kunoichi's direction. "Since you say they are so special, before I can approve them your going to need to tell me everything about them. And I mean everything, I can't have any of my shinobi wielding weapon's that we don't understand the capabilities of."

Kroqgar and Whisper had both smiled warmly at Shizune when Tsunade had mentioned her, who smiled back at them, a bit embarrassed. However when Tsunade informed them that they needed to tell everyone everything about their weapons, they grew a little apprehensive. They glanced at each other, their unease palpable. Each had intended for their weapons to be something of a secret weapon.

"Are you sure, Lady Hokage?" asked Whisper hesitantly. The older woman could clearly see the desire for secrecy in Whisper's eyes, but she was having none of it.

"Absolutely. As your Hokage I simply must know what you are capable of, and as my assistant almost nothing gets past Shizune. Your sensei's are the ones that need to know most of all, otherwise they can't use you to your full potential on missions or otherwise."

"Actually, Lady Hokage…" Everyone turned at the softly-spoken interruption.

"I'm rather curious as to what these weapons of theirs are," finished Kakashi. His eye roved over the pair in front of him, his interest obvious. "I may not have been a shinobi for as long as you have, (A muscle on Tsunade's face twitched at the subtle reminder of her age) but I've been around long enough to have seen most there is to see. I could use a good surprise. How about, we have a spar today, without these weapons of theirs, then when they are ready, before we take on any missions we have another, just so we can gauge how much of a difference they make?"

"I don't see a problem with that," said Tsunade, shrugging. "Kurenai," she continued, turning to the younger kunoichi, "How about you?"

"If Kakashi's game, I am," she replied with a nod.

Tsunade shrugged. "If you two say so. Please remove your tags." The two jounin carefully peeled the tags off their throats, and even went as far as to turn their backs, giving the other four complete privacy. If they had in fact been watching, they would have seen nothing in the way of facial expression, but from the two genin a large amount of gesturing. Even without facial expression or noise the surprise given off by Tsunade and Shizune was evident at points. Finally both of the jounin felt a tap on their shoulder, and turned around to see Kroqgar tapping his throat.

Once re-applied, they caught sight of the interested and even curious look on Shizune's face, as well as the devious grin on Tsunade's. The said grin was more than enough to make the two jounin edgy.

"Lady Hokage?" asked Kurenai nervously.

The sannin laughed for a moment, before saying "I will tell you one thing: You two have your work cut out for you."

Even though they were elite ninja, neither of them could completely contain their curiosity. Kakashi hmmmm-ed for a moment, before asking, "Do we get a hint?"

Tsunade considered this. "It is similar yet completely different to some of the things we have around today. You will never have seen anything exactly like it. Plus some of the features they've suggested for it are, honestly, brilliant. Some simple, others complex, but all of them…genius. I'm actually a little embarrassed that we haven't thought of some of them before ourselves," she finished, sheepishly. "In fact, if you two are OK with it, considering that these _are_ your ideas, I'd like your permission to use them in other cases."

Both the young shinobi were taken aback at this, however after sharing a look they both nodded. "All we ask is that you let us try them all in a combat situation, to make sure they work before passing them on to others," said Kroqgar.

Tsunade smiled. "Spoken like true Leaf shinobi. You know, it occurs to me that due to your…unique circumstances, you both might have ideas that none of us would ever think of. If you ever come up with anything you think might be effective, you come and tell me, and we'll see what we can do, alright?"

Kroqgar and Whisper were surprised at this faith in their abilities, but they agreed, eager to help and show their loyalty.

"Ok." The sannin brought out a scroll, and performed a hand seal. Immediately writing appeared on the scroll, rapidly covering it. At everyone's confused looks, she explained, "Note Taking Jutsu. One of my favourites." Laughing, she continued, "Orochimaru never could figure out how I took more notes than him from Sarutobi-sensei's lectures, when he never saw me write a thing."

"I don't suppose you'd care to demonstrate that once more Lady Hokage?" asked Kakashi innocently, hand straying to his forehead protector.

She let out a laugh, before replying, "Sorry. This one is a Tsunade original. Maybe I'll reveal it to Shizune when I'm about to die. Maybe."

"Anyway," she continued, "Kakashi, take this scroll." She threw it at the jounin, who caught it deftly. "Show that to Jiraiya, Hotaru and… Hang on!" They all tensed, startled by the look of sudden intensity on Tsunade's face. The sannin leaned back and whispered very quietly to Shizune, who leaned in to hear her, "Shizune… who's Tenten's father again?"

It took every ounce of Shizune's willpower to remain standing, but even she couldn't stop a small sweatdrop from forming. "Kaji."

Much louder, so that everyone could hear, Tsunade lied flawlessly, saying, "Thank God. Well, I guess we don't have to worry about that. Never mind everyone." She sent a sharp glare at a grinning Kakashi, who she barely caught lowering his hand when she turned back to face them. Curse that lip-reading Sharingan of his!

"Like I was saying, show that scroll to Jiraiya, Hotaru and Kaji (Kakashi's sudden cough _barely_ concealed his laugh). They'll know what to do. It's up to you from then on," she added, addressing Kroqgar and Whisper. Each nodded.

"Well, if that's everything?…" She let the question hang in the air. "Alright, dismissed. Kakashi, Kurenai, I want your reports on my desk first thing tomorrow." Kroqgar and Whisper rose from their seats and re-applied their disguises, just as Tsunade released her jutsu, before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Shizune, I need sake after all that. Tell my next appointment they can wait."

"NOT IF YOU DON'T WANT A PLAGUE OF SNAKES TO INFEST EVERY GOOD SAKE PLACE IN TOWN SHE CAN'T!" came the boisterous reply from outside.

Everyone laughed at the ease with which their Hokage could be controlled through her vices. Tsunade herself merely groaned.

…

It turned out that the outspoken person in the waiting room was none other than Anko Mitarashi, there for her appointment with Tsunade. She seemed surprised to see them, but recovered quickly, and in no way disguised the openly sexual look she threw at Kroqgar and Whisper (no one missed the smack of Kurenai's palm striking her forehead). She half-lidded her eyes and smiled in a way that made Kroqgar (and to a lesser extent Whisper) wish that their blush was still confined to their furred ears. "So that's why you were in such a rush earlier."

More surprising however, was the young woman waiting patiently in one of the chairs, who seemed even more surprised than Anko to see them. She gasped as she spotted them, and quickly looked away with a blush on her face after catching eyes with Kroqgar. Inwardly, Kroqgar and Whisper sighed and laughed respectively. It seemed that in this reality, Kroqgar was irresistible.

A voice floated from inside Tsunade's office. "Ayame, just wait for a little, my meeting with Anko won't take long."

"Yes Lady Hokage!" came the reply. Whisper and Kroqgar walked over to her, wishing to show that they were indeed trustworthy, and simply hoping to make another friend.

"Good morning Ayame!" said the taller shinobi with a smile.

"G-good morning!"

"How are you today?" smiled Whisper.

"Oh, I'm fine…"

The genin looked concerned. "Nothing's wrong, is it?" she asked.

"No, of course not!"

"Oh, good. I was just wondering why your seeing Lady Tsunade."

"Oh, it's nothing, really. Just…Uhhh…" The young woman panicked under the polite smiles of the two genin, and blurted the first thing that came to mind. "A new ramen recipe!"

"Really?" said Whisper. "I didn't think the Hokage was concerned with that sort of stuff. Well anyway, I suppose that's good news, for Naruto at least. We'll make sure to tell him at training today, and he'll probably insist we join him to enjoy it later." Kakashi politely cleared his throat. "I guess we've gotta go, see you later!"

"Oh, yes, bye!" replied the somewhat flustered waitress, as Kroqgar waved. She sighed as they moved away from her, resigned to having to invent a new form of ramen today.

Just as they were leaving, they heard Tsunade yell, "Ok Anko, come in," and the special jounin headed for the doors. She passed between Kroqgar and Whisper, who both said their goodbyes, and who both felt a firm pinch on their backside as she passed them. Both managed to refrain from making a noise, but jumped several feet in the air. They stared at the kunoichi's retreating back, who seemed to have no idea what just happened. However, just as she entered the Hokage's office, she turned to close the doors, and gave them the most lustful look she could muster, licking her lips as she did. While this was enough to make them both dizzy, it was when she pressed her breasts between the closing doors, showing them off to their fullest before retreating into Tsunade's office and closing the doors with a small _click_ that truly did in both of the genin, Whisper having to shake her head to rid herself of her daze, and Kroqgar stifling a nosebleed by passing it off as a sneeze.

Kurenai sighed.

…

Jiraiya was easy enough to find. None of them even had to ask, they all merely turned towards the hot springs as they exited the Hokage tower. Sure enough they found him, attempting to find a crack in the wall to peek through. Suspended above him, however, crawling his way along a low branch, was Naruto, slowly edging closer and closer towards the old sage. They all stopped to observe. Acting on the preternatural awareness everyone seems to possess when watched, Naruto looked their way and saw them. Grinning, he held a finger to his lips.

While on any other day, all present would have greatly enjoyed watching this scenario come to a close, they didn't have much time. With a sigh, Kroqgar stepped forward, and softly said, "I'll take care of this."

With a small pop, Kroqgar was gone, and in his place, appearing from behind a puff of smoke, was a terribly confused Naruto, stomach to the ground. Kakashi and Kurenai shared a glance, both thinking "_He's able to perform a Substitution Jutsu without hand seals al_ready_?_"

Kroqgar himself was lying prone on the branch above Jiraiya's head, though the branch was now swaying dangerously. The much larger shinobi weighed almost twice as much and was almost half again as tall as Naruto, and the branch was a tight fit.

Leaning forward, he whispered, "Jiraiya!"

The sannin, in a testament to his training, didn't jump or in any way show his surprise, merely glancing at Kroqgar out of the corner of his eye, before softly saying, "Beat it kid! You might be interesting but compared to what's going on in there I could care less!" He pointed towards the hot spring.

Once more Kroqgar demanded his attention. "Hey, see over there?"

Curiousity getting the better of him, the Toad Sage followed the direction of Kroqgar's pointing finger, to see a bored Kakashi, an amused Whisper and a fuming Kurenai and Naruto. Everyone's story checked out, except Naruto's.

"What's up with the brat?"

Kroqgar smiled. "He was lying on this branch, most likely about to yell out something about people perving on the women, when I swapped places with him." His smile broadened. "You owe me."

Jiraiya glanced between Kroqgar, the group, and the wall of the hot spring. Inside, a desire for research was struggling with a well-hidden but grudging sense of honour. "_Repay Kroqgar for helping me avoid a beating, or continue risking a beating?_ _Choices…_"

Kroqgar, noticing the sannin's teetering mind, decided to seal the deal. "Also, this is a special request from Tsunade. She personally said that you would find this interesting."

That did it. Jiraiya rose from his sitting position, and began walking over towards the group. He did, however, turn back and smile evilly at Kroqgar. "I suppose I've learned a couple things from the brat as well." At Kroqgar's confused look, he merely drew a deep breath.

"_Oh shit_," thought the younger shinobi.

"PERVERT!" Jiraiya ran off towards the group, laughing hard as he went. But Kroqgar was not to be outdone so easily.

He knew he had a grace period, for the women in the hot spring to recognize the shout, then to react to it, and finally to spot him. In the end, it was Jiraiya's rank as one of the greatest ninja in the world that did him in. He got to Whisper and the rest so fast that Kroqgar still had plenty of time, enough time in fact that he even waited a moment before pulling off his move. The next thing Jiraiya knew, he was standing on a tree branch, his long white hair flowing in the breeze, and clearly visible to all who might be looking for someone. Like, for example, a mob of angry and freshly washed women.

As the screams of pain and cries of mercy reached the ears of all present, Kroqgar turned away from watching the carnage to face Naruto. "Next time," he said, smiling widely, "I'm letting you do what you want. The old fart deserves it."

"Now you're talkin' my language!" said Naruto, all animosity forgotten at the comeuppance of a pervert.

…

As a group they all headed towards The Iron Kimono to see Hotaru, Kakashi and Kurenai thinking about their two newest students and wondering about their capabilities, Jiraiya engrossed in the scroll Kakashi had shown him, and Whisper, Kroqgar and Naruto simply talking about things. The young shinobi had been ecstatic that they were both placed on genin teams, and lamented that they both weren't being put on his team. "Anyone would be a good replacement for Sasuke!"

They soon arrived at the Iron Kimono, to find an ecstatic Ino perusing the contents of several crates that were apparently full of the newest shipment of shinobi fashion. At the sound of the door opening however, the young kunoichi turned to face them.

"Welcome to the Iron Kimono! Good morning Kakashi and Kurenai-senseis, and…uhhh…" Ino trailed off, face reddening, as she caught sight of Whisper and Kroqgar. Or, more accurately, Kroqgar. (Jiraiya had opted to head to The Wolf's Claw to inform Kaji of the meeting soon taking place, and Naruto followed him.) Kroqgar decided to help the poor girl.

"Kroqgar," he said with a smile, extending his hand. Ino, still slightly dazed, shook it, and darkened further at the skin contact. God, he was _big_!

Whisper introduced herself similarly before mentioning something that had been bothering her since she came in. "Excuse me, Ino?" The smaller genin (barely) tore her gaze away from Kroqgar to look at her. Gesturing at the girl's "Iron Kimono" nametag, she said, "I thought you worked at your family's flower shop?"

Stumped as to how this stranger knew that, she replied, "Well, I used to, but then I worked something out with my parents. My friend Sakura now works there, she always liked flowers more than me, and I get to work here, with clothes!"

"Speaking of clothes, shouldn't you be unloading that new shipment instead of just talking?" spoke a new voice. "You don't want to be fired on your first day do you?" Hotaru emerged from the back room, slightly flushed, with a judgemental look leveled at Ino. The younger kunoichi immediately stood up ramrod straight, hands held by her sides, and said "No ma'am!" before immediately taking an armful of clothes and beginning to place them around the store.

Hotaru smiled affectionately the minute the girl's back was turned. Having her work here was a brilliant arrangement, she was a great help, and Hotaru would never be bored again, she could always just discuss fashion with Ino! She turned to face the group.

"Welcome everyone! Kakashi!" She grinned. "It's been too long…" The jounin nervously cleared his throat. "Kurenai, it's good to see you again! And Kroqgar, Whisper, welcome back! I hope everything's all right with the clothes?" she finished, with a worried expression.

"Hello Hotaru!" said Whisper brightly. "Everything's fine with the clothes, we came here to see you for something else." Hotaru followed Whisper's gaze to Kakashi, bearer of the scroll.

"Actually," said the jounin, "is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

Hotaru was mildly surprised at the request, but it was easily granted. "Sure, we'll use the back room. Just need to clear it out first." With a "wait here" she disappeared again, only to return moments later, this time with a bare-chested man in tow. (Hotaru grinned as she caught a wide-eyed Kurenai take a sharp breath. "_Sorry honey,_" she thought, "_But he's allll mine._") "Amiki, this is Kakashi, Kurenai, Kroqgar and Whisper. Everyone, this is Amiki, or Mike for short."

Mike smiled. "Though my friends call me Jayvee! Nice to meet you all," he said, as he shook each of their hands.

Hotaru's gaze was anything but innocent as her eyes roved over Jayvee's bare torso. "He's helping me out with a new project, being my dummy and my model."

Kurenai couldn't resist. "New project?" she said, with a quirked eyebrow.

Hotaru laughed. "Sure, see for yourself! He's wearing them now."

All eyes dropped to a slightly embarrassed Jayvee's waist, around which was tightly cinched a pair of pants the likes of which only two of the group had ever seen before, with various coloured senbon pinned through portions them.

"Are those…?" Whisper began, a smile crawling across her face.

"Your old clothes." Hotaru confirmed, smiling broadly herself. "Repaired and modified, of course. I call them "Kazenagares", and if I can manage it, every fashion conscious person in Konoha is going to be wearing a pair of Kazens before the month is over. You two are first on the waiting list, considering I got the idea from you, but Ino is a close second."

"DAMN STRAIGHT!"

They all laughed at the young fashion diva's exuberance. Once the mirth died down, everyone turned at a polite "hem-hem" coming from Kurenai.

"Waiting list?" she asked eagerly.

…

As Hotaru put Kurenai's name down, Kakashi sidled up to Jayvee.

"I imagine being a model for someone like Hotaru can be… interesting." Said the lazy ninja. His gaze implied he knew more than most about that which he spoke.

"Well, you didn't hear it from me…" Jayvee said, leaning in close, "But when she's working on anything below the waist, she gets… handsy."

Kakashi laughed dryly. "I can imagine."

…

Just over an hour later, Kroqgar could be found at Training Ground Three, nervously doing stretches to warm himself up. He and Whisper had been with Hotaru, Jiraiya and Koji in the latter's shop, sealed within a soundproof room, discussing the new weapons for the better part of an hour. The three elder Konohans were left flabbergasted by the ideas put forth by the pair, even Jiraiya admitting "There's some crap I've never seen before." All three had agreed to take on the task, on the one condition that they were present at the weapon's first trial, and Kroqgar and Whisper had joyfully agreed.

When asked how long it would take to complete the order, Kaji looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning to his favourite tailor. "I haven't got any projects this week, beyond my normal work. What about you Hotaru?"

"Hmmm…" She tapped her chin thoughtfully, before smiling. "Nothing a Shadow Clone and an overzealous assistant can't handle."

"Well…" said the big man, looking at his clasped hands. "If we have your full cooperation-"

"Which you will, considering they won't be on missions until the weapons are done," interrupted Jiraiya.

"Which we apparently will, considering that you won't be on missions until your armaments are completed," acknowledged Kaji, "I'd say…." He smiled. "About a week on my end."

Two genin jaws dropped. "That soon?" Whisper exclaimed.

"Of course! And I can assure you quality work. 'A Wolf's Claw never dulls!'"

"It'll take you a whole week Kaji?" Hotaru grinned cheekily. "I bet I can get my part done in five days."

The weaponsmith laughed. "Sorry, but even a week is pushing it for me. So I'd suggest you take your time, because I think you've got the hard part."

"The hard part?" yelled Jiraiya, face indignant. "I have to handle all the seal work, plus I'll probably have to oversee the chakra shaping… If I want this done in a week, it's going to completely ruin any chances I get for research!"

Hotaru's eyes flashed. "You know," she began, smiling sweetly, "I _have_ always wondered how good Anko's snakes, taught Tsunade's strength technique, dressed in my armour and enhanced by Kurenai's genjutsu would be at guard duty. Maybe we should test them out guarding the hot springs?"

"Who needs research, let's get started!"

At that the genin had left, leaving the three masters of their crafts to their research for the upcoming project, agreeing that they would return later that night at the same place to completely lay out the design and prepare for the creation. They parted ways as they headed for their individual training grounds, both smiling as they remembered Kakashi's instructions. Kurenai had had to abandon them on the journey to The Wolf's Claw, to help save a villager from a certain crazy Special Jounin, and Kakashi and Naruto had stopped outside the weapon shop.

"Whisper, Kurenai already told you all about your training today," said the lazy ninja, hand already straying to the orange book in his pouch, "This shouldn't take too long, so Kroqgar, I want you to meet us in an hour at our normal training ground, Training Ground-"

"Three," interrupted Whisper and Kroqgar in unison, both smiling widely. The jounin looked surprised for a moment, before heaving a deep sigh.

"That's going to get irritating…" As he slowly walked off, Naruto in tow, to find the remaining active member of Team 7, they heard the exuberant blonde begin questioning Kakashi, beginning with how they knew which training ground Team 7 used.

Kroqgar smiled (he seemed to be doing that a lot these days) as he remembered parting ways with Whisper. They had been holding hands walking along, when their paths split, and he wished her luck before saying goodbye and walking off. He didn't make it two steps before a hand on his shoulder spun him around, and a spiky, pink-haired bomb-shell wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. Momentarily surprised, he stood stock still for a moment, before embracing Whisper and reciprocating. She broke away a moment later, wished him luck with a big smile and a slight blush on her face, before turning on her heel and running off to her own training ground.

He watched her go with a massive smile on his face, thinking to himself, "_Men of the world, eat your heart out, she chose me._"

Now here he was, nervously fidgeting whilst waiting for his new teammates to arrive, alternating between pacing back and forth and staring in awe at the three wooden posts sunk into the ground before him. It was… difficult to comprehend. He was here. In a training ground of Konoha. Waiting for his ninja team to arrive so they could train. And speak of the ninja-devils, there they were, entering from a path through the trees. Silver and lazy, blonde and crazy, pink and moody… "_Where's black and broody?_"

A quick browse through the Naruto database that was his brain later, and Kroqgar remembered that Sasuke was currently in hospital after his fight with Itachi. "_At least I don't have to deal with him just yet. Two is easier than three._"

He noticed Sakura blush slightly as she saw him, but not near as much as previously. She must have noticed his obvious display of affection towards Whisper last night. Kakashi beckoned him over to the shade.

As he approached, the jounin gestured towards Sakura. "Sakura Haruno, meet Kroqgar, Kroqgar, Sakura Haruno."

When Kroqgar reached out to shake her hand, he noticed her face was barely pink. "_Huh,_" he thought, "_Must be used to me by now. Guess I just caught her off guard._" "Pleased to meet you Sakura."

"Same here, Kroqgar."

"As of today, Kroqgar is officially a member of Team 7." Kakashi's admission caused Sakura some surprise. "He's a… special case, and he and his partner have been assigned to genin teams by the Hokage."

"Partner?" Sakura enquired.

"You saw her last night," Kroqgar clarified with a cheeky grin, "She's on Team 8 with Kurenai-sensei."

"Oh, ok."

"Anyway," continued the Copy ninja, "Why don't we all introduce ourselves to him, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, you know the drill." He caught Kroqgar's eye, and in that glance seemed to convey "_I know you probably know them better than they know themselves, but they don't know that, and they don't know you._"

"Why don't _you_ go first Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto, jumping to his feet and pointing at the silver-haired shinobi. "And this time do it properly!"

With a sigh and a shrug, Kakashi informed them, "I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like…" His hand strayed to the pouch at his waist. "A good book."

Kroqgar sweatdropped, but Sakura and Naruto faceplanted, legs twitching.

"I dislike… not being able to read a good book. Dreams for the future? Reading more good books. Hobbies? Reading."

Seeing that Naruto and Sakura were seconds away from jumping the (admittedly, occasionally infuriating) jounin, Kroqgar swiftly stepped in.

"My name is Kroqgar. I like-"

"Hang on!" Naruto interrupted. "Don't you have a last name?"

Kroqgar considered this. He supposed he didn't, which wasn't unheard of: Who the hell knew Tenten's last name? Still, this was as good an opportunity as any, if he wanted one. He'd never thought about having one before, but in a flash of inspiration the perfect answer came to him. A warm smile spread across his face.

"My last name is Shinseikatsu." Kakashi eye-smiled at him as he realized what the name meant, happy for the younger ninja. Naruto and Sakura simply looked confused.

"New life? Is that a clan? I've never heard of it before." asked the kunoichi.

Kroqgar easily sidestepped her question. "I'll tell you the story another time. Where was I? I like those who help others; I dislike people who don't keep their word. Since I… arrived here my whole perspective has changed, so I haven't really thought about my dreams for the future, and I don't really have any hobbies." He looked to Sakura.

"I'm Sakura Haruno." She considered her answers more than she had previously: she had matured, and was not so willing to present herself as a hopeless devotee of Sasuke to a new shinobi of unknown strength she had just met, and whom she found to be quite likeable. "I like people who work hard to better themselves, and I dislike people who don't realize that they have to work hard for their goals. My dream for the future is to surpass Tsunade as a medical ninja. And I suppose flower arranging would be my hobby."

"Very good Sakura." Kakashi was more than pleased with her progress: he was ecstatic. Not that it showed. "How about you Naruto?"

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I love ramen, and I hate people who think they can't change anything. My dream for the future is to become the Hokage! I like to train and collect ramen!" Kroqgar found out something the mangas had never been able to accurately portray as he dug in one ear with his little finger: Naruto was several decibels too loud.

"_Not much has changed there,_" thought Kakashi wearily. "Ok then... So, the training you two are doing today is very simple. In fact, it's probably the easiest training you've ever had to do." Both Naruto and Sakura leaned forward, excited at the prospect of less work. "All you have to do is watch me and Kroqgar spar."

This sounded fine to Sakura, but the more energetic Naruto was not so convinced. Leaping to his feet, Naruto shouted, "WATCH? THAT'S ALL WE GET TO DO?"

"Ok, since you _insist_ Naruto…" Kakashi's tone indicated he had seen this one coming a mile away. "As soon as I'm finished with Kroqgar I'll give you and Sakura some training you'll never forget. Maybe I'll even get Gai-sensei to help?" There was no way in hell the lazy jounin would ever ask for training help from Gai, but these two didn't know that. It was fun to make them sweat.

Kroqgar, however, saw through him immediately, and decided to score some points with his new teammates. "I wouldn't worry about it Kakashi-sensei, I'm sure your skill as a teacher is more than enough." Kakashi easily caught his barely hidden smile.

"Well, I certainly hope so…Anyway, Kroqgar, shall we?" The two of them walked out towards the center of the training field. "Sakura, Naruto, remember, you have to watch us. I don't know how far this battle will range, so be ready to move."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei!"

Kroqgar and Kakashi faced each other. "Are you ready?" asked the senior shinobi.

Kroqgar's smile betrayed his nerves. "Not really."

"Just relax. You've got the skills, even if you haven't used them. They'll come to you."

"Ok… But before we begin I want to warn you."

"Oh?" Kakashi's eyebrow quirked.

"I don't know how powerful I am. I've never gone all out, and some of my abilities I haven't even used yet. I'm going to give this everything I've got, because we both need to know my capabilities, but just… keep on your toes."

"Don't worry about me. Even if you are ten times more powerful than myself, I have one thing you don't: experience. Now remember: you won't get anywhere-"

"If I don't aim to kill you, I know."

Kakashi smiled, and slowly raised his headband, revealing his Sharingan eye. Everyone gasped at this, Naruto and Sakura that he was taking this so seriously, and Kroqgar simply at seeing the legendary ocular phenomenon in action. "I'm actually quite excited, it's not often I face an opponent with completely unknown capabilities. I suppose my regular tricks won't work on you as well; you've seen them all. I'm going to have to try out some new things."

Kroqgar was none too reassured.

Chapter 6, for your viewing pleasure! Sorry it took so long, I had some pretty massive writer's block on the office scene, plus there was a lot of story fleshing out going on, and I got a ton of ideas. Kept having to incorporate them in 'cos they were so awesome, then having to go back and re-write the story... ugh. Anyways, Chapter 7 should be up in maybe a week? Probably longer, but hopefully a week.

So, as always, please rate it, review it and comment on it. I can't improve myself if I don't know what to improve, and you, dear reader, are the one who tells me. However, the question I leave you with this time is: How powerful should they each be, and what special abilities might they have? I've got my ideas, but another perspective is always welcome. Thank you for reading.


	7. A Light Spar

**Chapter 7: A Light Spar**

Upon hearing Kakashi's words, something curious happened to Kroqgar. His shoulders tensed slightly, betraying his nerves, and for the first time since he had arrived in this reality, the slightest trickle of combat-fuelled adrenaline began pervading his system. By no means was he scared, he was almost fearless by nature and he knew that Kakashi wouldn't do any lasting damage, but he was most certainly wary. It was this first, small amount of combat-readiness, leaking through his body and creeping into his brain that unlocked yet another sealed store of knowledge.

To the senior shinobi, all that Kroqgar did was stiffen slightly, and get a brief look of vacancy on his face, before snapping his focus back on to Kakashi with an admirable level of intensity. The genin slowly lowered into a stance, sliding his right leg forward and resting most of his weight upon it, while bringing his right arm low in front of him and his left high and back. Kakashi sighed upon seeing the younger ninja grin. It did not take a genius of his stature to realize Kroqgar had just had a very advantageous addition of knowledge.

The brief flash of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu information, coupled with the electric tingle that ran through his body as it gained muscle memory it didn't remember earning, unnerved Kroqgar briefly, but as with all his previous deluges of Naruto-related knowledge, he quickly became accustomed to it. And it was time to try it all out.

Kakashi's voice accelerated his heart rate. "Start!"

Normally he would wait until an opportunity to attack, but seeing as how this was not a real combat situation and was entirely to test his abilities, Kroqgar simply decided to go all out. He leant forwards microscopically, transferring ninety percent of his weight to his front foot, before digging the point of his boot into the ground and pushing forwards with all his might.

To Sakura and Naruto, watching from the sidelines, Kroqgar simply disappeared, leaving only buckled earth and an almost explosive dust cloud in his wake. Kakashi's Sharingan eye was still able to track him, if not easily, then without too much difficulty, leading the jounin to believe that even without it he would still be able to follow his opponent's movements. Even so, the speed with which the genin was able to move, and that was _without_ chakra augmentation, momentarily stunned the Copy Ninja. And a moment was all Kroqgar needed.

Flipping over in mid-air as he flew towards Kakashi, Kroqgar channeled a fair amount of chakra to his feet, far more than what was needed for the tree-climbing exercise. As he came into contact with the jounin, he simply exploded back the direction he had come, repulsed by the wave of chakra he had unleashed from his feet. Kakashi, however, was much worse off, being caught completely off-guard. He tumbled head over heels backwards, two smoking, boot-shaped holes in the front of his flak jacket. In a flash of brilliance, Kroqgar devised his next move.

As his feet came into contact with the ground, he used chakra to stick to it, preventing himself from sliding backwards. His momentum ensured that he was still bent backwards at the knees, but by tensing the muscles in his legs he was able to slow down his fall enough to slam a hand into the ground beneath him, causing a small depression in the hard earth. In a puff of smoke, however, he was gone. And in his place was Kakashi.

Kroqgar, bent over backwards in the exact same place Kakashi had been not a second ago, quickly rose to his feet to see whether his hastily tested theory was correct. Seeing a silver-haired blur hurtle towards him, he grinned. It turned out that when you used a Substitution Jutsu, both objects retained their momentum. Exploding into a sprint to add power to his blow, Kroqgar brought up his leg and in a perfectly executed kick drove the edge of his foot into Kakashi's lower back as hard as he could. The jounin's mask darkened as he coughed up spit and some small amount of blood. He was folded backwards over Kroqgar's foot for an instant, before the force of the blow transferred and he was once more sent flying, this time into the forest at the edge of the clearing, passing through several trees on the way.

Naruto and Sakura were utterly speechless, mouths agape. This new ninja, this genin, this supposed beginner was thrashing around Kakashi Hatake, _The_ Copy Ninja, like he was a civilian. If either of them knew just how badly Kakashi was taken off-guard when Kroqgar struck, they would have been much less stunned, but as it was it was all they could do to refrain from drooling as Kroqgar settled once more into a ready stance, eyes roving the tree line around him.

Kroqgar himself was similarly marveling at his own ability in a small corner of his mind, but for the most part utterly focused on his surroundings. He was determined to do his best in this test, and he knew he couldn't afford to make a mistake against an opponent like Kakashi. So it was that when the earth several feet in front of him began shifting, his attention immediately snapped to it. In seconds the ground became like liquid, bubbling and shifting. Kroqgar spared barely a second to look around him once more for anything threatening, all senses on alert. The tension was unbearable.

Suddenly, an arm thrust from the bubbling earth, a flesh and blood arm, and began clawing at the still solid ground around it. Kroqgar, in a brief agony of indecision, hesitated as he tried to decide whether to retreat or attack. That hesitation cost him.

In a blur, the earth rose on either side of him in a triangle shape, melting and reforming around each of his wrists, before sinking back down into the earth, and dragging his arms with it. Kroqgar tried to kick at the earthen shackles, attempting to shatter them, but found that his feet had sunk into the ground almost to the tops of his boots. He fought with all his strength against the downward pull, but the chakra-reinforced earth was simply too strong. He was forced to his knees, arms pinned to the ground at his sides, and there was nothing he could do about it. His mind raced as he attempted to think of a way out his situation before the attack in front of him struck. He raised his gaze to the bubbling earth before him, to see what had dragged itself out of the depths, and was momentarily stunned to see a perfectly normal patch of ground in front of him.

A shadow covered him. "Yo."

Looking straight up, Kroqgar saw Kakashi standing over him, gazing down at him in amusement. "How do you like my Earth Style: Executioner's Jutsu?"

The jutsu's name was not very reassuring. "Executioner's…?"

Kakashi laughed at his discomfort. "Your neck is at the perfect height for a killing blow, from a sword or axe or something. This jutsu is perfect for incapacitating someone for a quick, silent kill."

"Ok, fair enough," admitted Kroqgar, nodding somewhat sheepishly. "You got me pretty good. But what was that arm in front of me?"

Kakashi's mirth only increased. He was enjoying this. "Genjutsu can be very distracting. For you."

The jounin's laughter abruptly stopped as he felt a massive arm across his throat and a kunai's point barely touching his neck. Kroqgar, pinned to the ground, suddenly grinned, and with a hasty "Cya!" disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow Clone. Impressive. I didn't even know you could perform that jutsu." He felt more than saw Kroqgar smile behind him.

"Isn't that the whole point of this spar, that you want an opponent you know nothing about? Well, here I am!"

By this point Sakura and Naruto, while still not really knowing what happened in the earlier parts of the fight, had seen enough to know that Kakashi was at Kroqgar's mercy. Though they had known Kakashi longer, you simply had to root for your teammate over your sensei.

Naruto's shouts of encouragement were easily audible. "COME ON KROQGAR, HE'S YOURS NOW! TAKE THAT KAKASHI-SENSEI, WE HAVE A WINNER!"

Kroqgar's smiled widened upon hearing Naruto. "You know Kakashi-sensei, at the risk of sounding arrogant I've got a piece of advice for you."

"Go for it, a good ninja always seeks to better himself."

"Never reveal the secrets of a jutsu to an opponent, even if you think they are dead, or even if it is just in a friendly spar. If it's the latter, wait until afterwards; then you can still use it again."

Kakashi nodded, taking it in, and feeling the cold point of the kunai slide up and down his neck very softly. "Good advice. I've got some for you as well."

"Sure, a good ninja always seeks to better himself," laughed Kroqgar, parroting his teacher's words in a friendly fashion.

"Never assume that an opponent only has one line of defense." The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Kroqgar felt a hand grab his shoulder, and a kunai tip press against his neck.

Looking over his shoulder Kroqgar saw Kakashi standing there, looking relaxed as anything. "In hindsight, I should have seen that one coming."

Kakashi smiled. "Yes, you should have. Do you give up?"

Kroqgar smiled right back. "Nope." Once more, he exploded into smoke, and Kakashi was placed at kunai-point.

"One thing I've always noticed from reading the books about this world," Kroqgar said, making sure to keep Kakashi secure, "is that most ninja of jounin level, and that know the jutsu, have the option of making what, ten shadow clones without it being too strenuous? Yet you only ever seem to make the one when attempting this maneuver. I have no doubt that even though I'm pretty damn focused on you, you'll find a way out of this that won't tax you much at all, but if I was at your level then you'd almost certainly be finished."

"That's a good point," conceded Kakashi, nodding. "I suppose every ninja just tends to only do this once, but it is obvious that you could easily gain an advantage if you performed it multiple times. I'll keep that in mind in the future. But for now…"

Kroqgar tensed, holding Kakashi tightly, every sense on high alert. He still thought Kakashi would escape him, but he wasn't going to make it easy. The Copy Ninja did nothing however; he simply appeared to be standing there. Training Ground Three was utterly silent, every occupant completely focused. A tingle in the back of his head was Kroqgar's only warning. His eyes widened.

In a supreme display of chakra control, Kakashi channeled his chakra to every point on his body in contact with Kroqgar, and with one directed thought, released it all at once. Had Kroqgar been caught by the attack, he would have been blasted backwards, and judging from how much chakra Kakashi expelled flung clear into the forest. Instead, he simply burst into smoke.

Kakashi sighed wearily. "Another clone?"

"Bingo." Kakashi turned to see Kroqgar emerging from the tree line.

"You really enjoy using those don't you?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't? They are so useful and versatile, and to be honest, I just enjoy using them. I think they're cool. "

In the distance, a shout of "So do I!" could be heard from Naruto.

Kroqgar laughed at the blonde's exuberance, before saying, "But don't worry about it, this is the real me."

'Well, I must say, so far the real you has been quite impressive. You've managed to pull over a few on me, and I don't mean to brag but that's not easy to do. Let's see how your Taijutsu is. No tricks, no deception, just straight combat."

"Alright," said Kroqgar, nodding, "Sounds good to me. Ready?"

Kakashi laughed. "Bring it on."

Instead of the dramatic, earth-shattering push-off he had performed at the beginning of their spar, this time Kroqgar sprinted forwards, unguarded, simply attempting to reach Kakashi as quickly as possible. The jounin, prepared this time, tracked him, watching the other come closer and closer, still not preparing any sort of attack. He was mildly unnerved – so far the genin had been full of surprises. He had his guard up, but was unsure of the good it would do him.

When Kroqgar was feet from Kakashi and still had yet to show any sort of form, the older shinobi finally clued on to the general gist of what he was planning, but by then it was too late to do anything about it. Kakashi however still had time to think, "_He's almost as unpredictable as Naruto!_"

On the final step before he reached Kakashi, Kroqgar dipped low in his stride, and pushed forwards and upwards with all his might. The blunt force behind his attack would have shattered Kakashi's hands had he tried to block, and it was only reflexes honed through decades of practice that saved his life. As Kroqgar's fore head slammed into his own, Kakashi was able to lean back, making the blow lose a lot of its force by striking him on an angle instead of head on. Still, the attack was powerful enough to knock him off his feet, but he responded in kind, planting both his hands on the ground and using the momentum of Kroqgar's own attack to swing his legs up and connect a powerful kick to Kroqgar's chin, lifting the younger shinobi off the ground.

Moving the position of his hands and spinning on the spot, Kakashi was able to change the direction of his swing, and attempted to bring his leg down on Kroqgar's head in an axe kick, but the genin crossed both his forearms above his head, blocking the blow. Still airborne, the force of Kakashi's kick forced Kroqgar to the ground, and he bent his legs as he landed, softening the blow. He grabbed Kakashi's ankle with one hand, and placed his other forearm just above the jounin's knee. Kroqgar's sheer size truly benefited him as he slid out one leg to knock one of Kakashi's hands out from underneath him, before pulling down on the jounin's ankle and pushing upward with his other arm.

As the Copy Ninja saw what was happening, his eye widened and he attempted to twist out of the hold, but Kroqgar's grip was just too strong (he even began to suspect that without chakra the genin might be physically stronger than he was). The only way to avoid having his leg broken was to push off his remaining hand with all his might. He bent slightly at the elbow, already beginning to feel the strain along the back of his leg, before thrusting upwards with all his might. Though he succeeded in preventing a broken leg, there was no way Kakashi was able to avoid the back-breaking collision with the unyielding earth.

Kroqgar, utilizing raw brute strength, gripped tightly onto Kakashi's ankle and began to spin, at first dragging the dazed jounin in a circle around himself, but as he picked up speed flinging him in a wide, aerial spin. The Copy Ninja proved exactly why he was so feared when he bent over into the spin, and was able to reach Kroqgar's hands. By pinching a nerve in the younger shinobi's wrists, he was able to force the other to release him, but he did not release Kroqgar. Gripping the other's momentarily stunned wrist in his hand, Kakashi was able to flip his body like a diver in midair, and bring his feet to the ground. He immediately started spinning, reversing Kroqgar's attack whilst retaining its momentum, and finally released his grip, flinging the younger ninja into a sturdy tree. They connected with a resounding _thud_.

As Kakashi stood up straight, his eyes narrowed in thought as he regarded the genin rising unsteadily to his feet in the distance. There was no doubt about it, he was strong. Stronger than any of his new teammates, that was for sure, unless they happened to unlock some sort of demonic energy inside of them. Smart as well, resourceful…and he still had no idea just really what this guy was capable of. Or what his moves were. His fighting style so far had been unpredictable, to say the least. "_Oh well,_" thought the jounin, "_Time to test his basics._"

Kakashi waited until the instant Kroqgar's guard reasserted itself, before he shunshined directly in front of him, an arm's length away. The genin didn't even flinch. In that infinite instant as they stood regarding each other, Kakashi's opinion of the other rose. There was absolutely no way he could have been unsurprised by Kakashi's maneuver, but in the heat of the battle he was able to completely isolate any signs of that surprise, and not allow them to interfere.

Kroqgar glimpsed a black blur heading towards him, the only sign of Kakashi's right punch. As he began moving his arm to block, the disguised, upright triangular ears on his head detected the faintest crunch as Kakashi's left foot raised from the ground. He didn't make the mistake of thinking; there was no time to think, only to move.

He moved his head to the right, tilting his body as he did; just enough to feel the edge of Kakashi's glove scratch the itch on the tip of his nose. At the same time he caught Kakashi's knee is his hands, blocking the jounin's strike to his gut. Were he a bit shorter, Kroqgar would have worried, but his reach allowed him to brace himself against the blow. In an unorthodox movement, he opened his mouth wide and leant back towards Kakashi's arm. The older shinobi's eye widened as he realized just what his opponent intended, and he brought his arm wide to avoid being bitten.

And left his guard wide open. Kroqgar, hands already at the level of Kakashi's midsection, pushed Kakashi's knee down, and used the force of the push to bring his now closed fists into the jounin's stomach. Kakashi, determined to force the genin to use chakra before him, knew he didn't have the strength to block a blow with this kind of force behind it, so instead brought his left hand down and grabbed the combined front of Kroqgar's two fists. By keeping his arm rigid, he was able to move back with the blow, and kicked off with his right foot, bringing it up and around, to strike Kroqgar in the back of the head.

The genin barely dodged the blow, hair ruffling as Kakashi's kick bypassed him. As the other shinobi touched ground, Kroqgar went for a punch to the back of his head, but Kakashi's preternatural awareness showed as he dodged the blow, before reaching up and grasping it. Leaning forwards, and sliding back a leg to kick Kroqgar's balance off, Kakashi threw the genin bodily into the air.

Kroqgar flew some distance, flipping over several times in mid air, and landed perfectly before blasting towards Kakashi. The Copy Ninja did the same. They met with a dull thud.

Sakura and Naruto were understandably gob smacked. This new guy… he was something else! His moves were unique, his style unpredictable, his blows bone shattering and his speed blinding. They each knew the incredible prowess of their sensei, but in the deepest corners of their minds they began to privately doubt that he could win this fight.

Block, dodge, strike, move. The entire existence of Kroqgar and Kakashi narrowed down to these four words as they fought, each seeking to gain an advantage over the other. Though younger and stronger, Kakashi's speed, experience and consummate skill began to show, as he landed a blow here, a blow there. Kroqgar managed to strike Kakashi every now and then, and each of his blows was more fierce than Kakashi's, but steadily the older ninja was wearing him down. Gritting his teeth, he knew he would have to mix things up a bit if he hoped to emerge victorious, or at least not be beaten _too_ badly.

Deciding to go for an old favourite, he sought an opening to use the Substitution Jutsu, and swap places with Kakashi to throw the older shinobi off guard, if only for a second.

"_Wait… Wait…_"Kroqgar blocked one of Kakashi's strikes, sending the jounin's arm wide."_THERE!_" Kroqgar couldn't hold back a grin as he focused his chakra and performed the Substitution Jutsu…

…only to have his chin slam into Kakashi's outstretched palm with all the force of an avalanche. His vision went white. His head bent backward an unnatural amount.

"Substitution Jutsu…" The calm voice cut through the haze. "Essentially a two-way shunshin to swap places with another object, in this case me. Useless against an opponent expecting it."

Even through the roaring in his ears, Kroqgar was able to pick up the sound of Kakashi rushing towards him. In his mind's eye he could see the other's fist pulling back, ready to deliver a finishing blow.

Something surged inside of him. His body moved of its own accord.

Sakura and Naruto, still wincing in sympathetic pain of the blow Kroqgar had been dealt, were stunned to see the larger shinobi suddenly centre in his stance, regaining his balance. The slight glassiness in his eyes revealed that his vision was still clouded by Kakashi's palm strike. He slipped around the stunned jounin's outstretched fist, feet never leaving their position as his upper body turned and bent. As they watched, he brought his open hand towards their sensei's gut, almost as if he intended to grab it. His other arm went wide, and his entire torso spun with the movement, giving it power. Just before he made contact, they were both stunned to see a ball of _something_ appear in Kroqgar's hand. It filled his palm, and glowed a bright golden yellow, almost forcing them to look away.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he as he glimpsed the strange apparation. "_It's almost like my Rasengan…" _he thought, "_But there's something off about it…"_

Kakashi barely had time to glance earthward before the orb in his opponent's hand came into contact with his midsection. Several sensations flew through him in a fraction of an instant. First, it was warm. The small sphere actually felt pleasant to the touch. Second, it seemed not entirely solid. As he moved, millimeter by millimeter further forward, the ball's shape warped slightly, flattening out a little against his stomach. Third, it blazed white-hot. He didn't even have time to widen his eye. Fourth, he felt Kroqgar's actual hand come into contact with him, reducing the space between them to zero.

Fifth, the golden sphere exploded.

A massive cloud of dust burst into being, a charred and smoking Kakashi rocketing out of it. Sakura and Naruto, as if in slow motion, were clearly able to see the crater burnt into their sensei's stomach. However, though trained ninja both, neither of them were quick enough to see two black blurs fly into the cloud.

Kakashi crashed into a tree at the far end of the clearing and slid to the ground. Concern for their sensei overrode all else, and both genin ran to him at high speed. Just before they reached him, Tsunade and a masked ANBU, hands clasped, appeared in a burst of smoke in front of them.

Tsunade was not the Hokage for nothing. Even as she sprinted to Kakashi, she was flying through hand seals so fast that (Naruto and Sakura's jaws dropped) they couldn't even tell what seals she was making. And even as she performed that incredible feat, Tsunade had enough presence of mind to yell over her shoulder "Secure the prisoner!"

The comment caused both members of Team 7 to start. Turning, they saw two ANBU supporting an unmoving Kroqgar between them.

…

Whisper flipped, hands feet hands feet, over and over, each time hearing something (presumably a sharp object) embed itself into the ground behind her. She was fast approaching a large standing stone. Retreat was no longer an option.

As the ground rushed to meet her, instead of catching herself on her hands, she let her arms fold beneath her and tucked her head in, going into a roll. By kicking with her still-outstretched legs in the air above her, she was able to turn her roll into a spin on her back, and watched with incredibly focused eyes as a kunai flew between her two legs.

That was the signal to avoid the next one. Planting both her hands on the ground behind her head, she pushed off, and arched her back to bring her feet to the ground. She felt the displacement of the air as yet another kunai flew through the arch her body had created. Just as her feet touched ground and she felt the first vestiges of balance, she heard the whistling of air that presaged another kunai. "_Shit, she must have thrown two at once!"_

With no options left, Whisper spun once on the spot, before bringing her right arm directly into the path of the incoming projectile. The armour on the outside of her glove served its purpose well, as Whisper swung her protected forearm at the kunai as hard as she could and sent it spinning back to her opponent. A slight tilt of her arm, and Whisper also managed to reflect not just the kunai but the rays of the sun, directly into her opponent's eyes.

Kurenai Yuuhi blinked furiously, the unexpected assault distracting her from the genjutsu she was about to cast. She thought she'd had the genin right where she wanted her, and it was a good thing too; she was long out of kunai, and a fair few of the ones she _had_ thrown had been illusions anyway.

She jumped aside as the reflected kunai flew past her, spinning wildly. She spared a moment to glance at her team, more out of concern than anything else. That kunai was heading right for them, fast. Kiba and Hinata jumped aside, avoiding it by a wide margin, but Shino did not move, didn't seem to breathe as it flew toward him. A black cloud boiled out of his coat, streaming out the collar and sleeves. Kurenai released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as Shino's kikaichu absorbed the kunai and deposited it directly into Shino's outstretched hand.

Kurenai was not a jounin for nothing, and easily leant aside to avoid the surprise strike from behind. Pivoting on her supporting leg, she lashed out with a perfect side kick and struck Whisper directly in the abdomen. As expected, the genin burst into smoke.

Another Whisper seemed to faze into existence before Kurenai, unbuttoned shirt streaming behind her and dust kicking up around her. If there was one thing that the jounin had so far learned about the younger shinobi, it was that the girl was _fast!_

Before Whisper's shirt even fell back into place, another Whisper appeared to her right. A third to her left. And Kurenai's currently-chakra-enhanced hearing detected a fourth behind her. The brief moment of concern for her team had cost her. Whisper had her thoroughly cornered. The only way out was… "_UP!_"

She didn't get her guard up in time. The clasped hands of the clone above her slammed into her head, forcing it downward. The power behind the blow made the clone dispel on impact.

Kurenai's face slammed into the raised knee of the clone directly in front of her. Her head snapped back up, her vision swimming, as once more the clone burst out of existence. Her body bent backward slightly, leaving her completely exposed. The clones on either side of her each delivered a punishing blow, directly onto her ribs, sending her backward. Stars appeared before her as a heel slammed into the back of her head.

The smoke from the clones blinded her. She deemed a tactical retreat was necessary, and melted directly into the ground. When the smoke cleared, the only person standing there was Whisper herself, slowly rotating on the spot as she sought Kurenai. The disguised vixen grimaced as her plan backfired; the smoke was supposed to hide her attack, not Kurenai's retreat.

Although what they had just seen was about on par with everything else the members of Team 8 had already witnessed, they were still stunned. "_Where did she come from? How did she get there without any of us noticing?_" For the first time in a long time, Hinata wished she trained a lot harder. She had run out of chakra for her Byakuugan ten minutes ago.

Whisper's mind whirled over her options, as she still sought Kurenai with all her senses. The Naruto database imprinted in her brain found and eliminated possibilities at the rate of a sprinting Might Guy. "_She couldn't have shunshined out, I would've seen her…same with the Substitution Jutsu… She can't have transformed herself into anything here… She didn't jump out… Maybe sh-!_" Whisper's legs tensed infinitesimally, she crouched incredibly slightly.

Not fast enough. Kurenai burst from the ground directly in front of her, and slammed her raised knee into Whisper's jaw. The power of Kurenai's earthen jump propelled her over the stunned genin. She flipped in mid air, and caught herself on her hands as she hooked her feet around Whisper's neck. Using the momentum of her jump, as well as a quick tensing of her gut and legs, Kurenai lifted Whisper and threw her bodily into the air. The genin slid as she landed, her hands and feet digging channels in the earth as she shook her head to clear her vision. The moment she looked up, Kurenai was upon her. Whisper, still dazed, barely raised her arm in time to block.

They fought back and forth across the training ground, each seeking the smallest of holes in their opponents guard. There was no doubt that of the two of them Whisper was the faster, but Kurenai was simply more skilled, her moves crisper and overall better. Whisper was good, but she was getting tired, fatigue beginning to creep into her bones. Her muscles ached slightly from the exertion of keeping up with the older shinobi. Slowly, Kurenai was beginning to overpower her.

Each of Team 8's original genin was stunned in their own way. Shino, stoic as ever, merely expressed his disbelief in the raising of his eyebrows. Even so, at one stage Kiba had glanced at him to comment on the fight, before turning back to continue watching, only to do a massive double take and express his concern for Shino's well being to Hinata.

The Inuzuka himself was shocked into (mostly) silence at the display before him. The shock was doubled because he honestly didn't think his sensei could fight this well. If he had seen Whisper perform her skills by herself, he would have picked her to be the eventual victor.

The genin frowned. For the first time in his life, he was beginning to realize he undervalued his sensei because she was a woman. Or, in his admittedly still childish mind, a girl. He supposed he always thought of girls as being weaker than boys. It annoyed him that he just unconsciously thought that, and as he watched the two skilled ninja fight before him he silently promised himself he would never judge someone based on their gender again. Because it was clear to him that the slight girl they were putting on his team who he was sure he could kick up and down the field with his eyes closed less than an hour ago would absolutely dominate him, Akamaru included. It didn't hurt that she smelled so… familiar.

Thought of the small dog made Kiba cast his eyes to Hinata, and smile warmly for a moment. The small puppy was lying on his back on her lap, limbs splayed, tongue hanging out and eyes closed, fast asleep. The little dog began to growl at a phantom dream cat, before Hinata lowered a hand and started scratching at his belly. The growling stopped immediately as his back leg started going crazy.

The Hyuuga heiress herself wasn't even aware of what she was doing, transfixed as she was by the dance taking place before her. Each of the kunoichi fought so well, melding grace and power into one deadly art. Whisper was fluid, and moved like lightning, seeming to be everywhere at once, but Kurenai seemed to be more solid, making sharp, precise movements that wasted very little energy. Though perhaps not the best fighter, Hinata was certainly no fool and could tell that her sensei was steadily gaining the upper hand, but that Whisper was even able to hold her own this long was amazing.

As she watched her teammate and sensei spar, she felt a small hurt in her chest. Though she hid it well, she was sad because she thought she would never get to that level. Her father's harsh words flashed across her mind, before she shook her head and focused on the fight again. With an all too rare defiant expression, she reactivated her Byakuugan, even though it stung her eyes, and continued watching the fight, ready to jump in and help if anyone got hurt.

Whisper, mirroring Kroqgar's thoughts, realized that she had no hope of winning a prolonged taijutsu battle with a jounin of Kurenai's level, and that a change was in order.

She gritted her teeth in preparation for the blow she was about to receive. Even as fast as she was she knew there was no way she was going to get through Kurenai's guard to stun the other shinobi long enough to try something without taking a blow herself.

Her chance presented itself rather quickly. Kurenai leant in to deliver an elbow strike, which she was able to dodge around, and lean forwards herself. She winced as she felt her sensei's free hand bury itself in her stomach, but knew that the jounin came off worse when she slammed her armoured forehead into Kurenai's. The older kunoichi staggered back a pace.

Whisper immediately jumped backwards, opening up a large distance in an instant. This was all or nothing. She knew she couldn't beat Kurenai through the normal methods, so it was time to pull out the stops. The Ninjutsu she learned instantaneously seconds before the match was about to come in handy.

Flying through hand seals at an impressive rate, Whisper yelled out "Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave Jutsu!" before raising both fists above and behind her head and slamming them down into the ground as hard as she could. A veritable flood roared out of them, rushing towards Kurenai. The jounin blinked in mild surprise at the wall of white foam rushing towards her. Now _this_ was impressive.

Whisper was far from done. As she saw Kurenai sprint around the wall of water, she once more took aim, and started forming hand seals, before yelling out "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" and spitting out a firestorm.

The massive wall of flame hurtled towards an impressed Kurenai. The jounin wasn't worried, at this range she could still dodge it, but that the girl could perform these techniques at all, and at _this_ level…

Even a jounin loses a bit of situational awareness when confronted with two summoned natural disasters. So it was that Kurenai didn't notice Whisper running through an entirely unknown set of hand seals at a much faster pace than before, before muttering "Wind Style: Windwall Jutsu."

Hinata, Kiba and even Shino were on their feet, staring at the elemental carnage taking place before them. They had rarely even seen jutsu of this level performed, but to see them done right in front of them, by someone only a few years older than them? Their new _teammate_? Though he would never admit it, beneath his collar Shino's jaw had dropped.

Even though her technique was, to the best of her knowledge, entirely new to the Naruto world, Whisper knew without a doubt that it would work perfectly. However even with that knowledge she grinned in satisfaction as she saw the wall of water she had summoned suddenly slam into something and change direction, hurtling towards Kurenai from the side.

Kurenai herself, preoccupied with not being burnt alive, didn't notice the steadily approaching wall of water before it was almost too late. "_Should the rushing of that water still be so loud?_" she thought to herself. Sparing a quick glance at the incoming wave, she was stunned to see it almost right on top of her. "_How?_"

The Genjutsu Mistress didn't know how the genin had done it, but now the Exploding Water Shock Wave Jutsu was right on top of her. A single look revealed that Whisper had not moved, so she couldn't have summoned a second wave. How did this one change direction?

Questions could wait. Channeling chakra to her legs, Kurenai exploded forward as fast as she could, aiming for the steadily closing gap between the fireball and the water wall.

Whisper watched from afar as Kurenai played right into her hands. Though panting slightly from the exertion of using such powerful techniques, the genin prepared herself for more. She smiled in triumph as her two techniques collided, Kurenai barely escaping the initial collision, feeling one sleeve signed and the other dampened. The jounin was about to discover what happens when fire meets water.

Kurenai, still silently wondering how exactly the genin pulled that one off, would later kick herself for her mistake. She should have expected it, but was caught unawares when a massive cloud of steam boiled forwards from directly behind her, quickly encompassing her and effectively blinding her. She was instantly soaked, her hair and clothing weighing her down. Mentally, she applauded Whisper. That was a damn good move.

Whisper prepared to finish the attack. She summoned thirteen shadow clones, and they all began to sprint towards the steam cloud at high speed, save one of them. The thirteenth clone disappeared immediately, a small rock taking its place as the genin thought to herself how much she loved the Substitution Jutsu. She reached into her weapon pouch and drew out a kunai.

Kurenai ran as fast as she could, trying to find the end of this accursed steam, before she heard a slight scraping on the ground somewhere in front of her. Immediately she drew out a kunai and snapped into a defensive stance, not taking any chances this time. Unfortunately she left herself completely open to an attack from the rear.

"Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!"

Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. The voice coming from directly behind her surprised her. The name of the jutsu _terrified _her.

"A Thousand Years of DEATH!"

Kurenai shot forwards as she felt herself attacked in a place no one wants to be attacked. Though they'd kill you if you said anything about it, it was considered the ultimate shame among the Konoha jounin to be struck by this technique. Hands clasped to her backside, the kunai she held not a moment ago lying on the ground long forgotten, she had no defense against the sudden assault from the front. Or at least… she thought it was an assault.

Whisper appeared before her in the steam and in a flash wrapped her arms around Kurenai, holding the jounin's arms behind her. Kurenai tried to shrug the younger kunoichi off, but Whisper had her hands linked behind Kurenai's back, and the chakra current running through them made her grip as unbreakable as Naruto's head.

She was nearer the edge of the steam cloud, and the slight breeze that had pervaded the day was helping visibility, so it was that she saw another Whisper place a hand on the shoulder of the one holding her. And link hands with another behind her. And another. And another.

Kurenai saw that they were forming a long line, still in contact with each other, reaching beyond the steam cloud, pointing towards… what? Something was shimmering in the distance. She narrowed her eyes and leaned forwards, trying to get a glimpse of what it was. A sudden gust of wind blew just enough steam away.

Standing stock still, her arm held high and back, was Whisper. In her grip was a kunai, wreathed in brightly glowing lightning. The electricity surged along the blade, glowing even in the bright morning sunlight, and highlighting Whisper's features in deep shadow, making her seem terrifying.

Whisper, nearly blinded by the light the kunai was giving off, screamed at the top of her lungs, "LIGHTNING STYLE: CHAIN LIGHTNING!" before leaning forwards and throwing the kunai as hard as she could, augmenting her throw with chakra. The air sizzled as the lightning kunai sliced through it, flying towards its target at an incredible rate. By the time she figured it out, Kurenai's face barely had time to register shock.

The kunai embedded itself into the stomach of the first clone, transferring the lightning to it. The electricity surged through the clone, lightning it up like a torch for a moment before moving on to the next as the clone popped out of existence. Down the line it went, each clone burning brightly for a brief moment before transferring the power to the next and dispelling.

When the current reached Kurenai, she let out a brief cry of pain as the lightning momentarily illuminated her, before dropping to her hands and knees as the clone holding her disappeared. She was panting, heavily. It had taken a good chunk of her chakra to protect herself from the worst of the lightning; at the moment standing was a bit beyond her.

That the this girl she had just met, even with her incredible background, had been able to pull off something of that power, that effectiveness, that… that _sneakiness_ was nothing short of amazing. Kurenai was comfortable enough to admit to herself that at the moment she was completely incapacitated. She had no defense as the thirteenth clone came out of nowhere to deliver a punishing kick to her ribs, sending her some distance and dispelling itself in the process.

Hinata, Kiba and Shino went to run to her, concern for their sensei evident in every line of their bodies, but a gesture and a command from Kurenai stopped them in their tracks.

"Wait!" The jounin shakily rose to her legs. She shook her head, dusted herself off and cracked a few of her joints, before looking at Whisper appraisingly. "I'm very impressed. I didn't expect anywhere near that level of skill." The sentiment easily came through in the jounin's voice, her words warm and her expression kind.

Whisper smiled at the praise, happy that she was able to so impress the woman she had just met, yet knew so much about.

"But…" Kurenai laughed softly for a moment, before coughing and clutching her ribs. "Oof, I shouldn't laugh, that was a good kick. But my guess is that you used up almost all your chakra to perform that last maneuver."

As if on cue, Whisper's legs shook beneath her. She grinned sheepishly. She could barely stand.

"This is where we really find out what you can do, when you're against the ropes and under pressure. Some people crumble. Some rise to the occasion." Kurenai got into her stance and readied herself for combat. "Let's see which type you are."

Whisper, staggering slightly, lowered herself back into her stance and got ready to go down fighting. The wind whistled through the flooded, singed and scorched field, as both combatants stood perfectly still, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

So focused was Whisper that when an ANBU appeared in a poof of smoke right next to Kurenai she was so surprised she fell over. Glowing like the sun, she rubbed at the back of her head and raised her gaze to her sensei and the ANBU. The masked ninja didn't say a word, merely handing Kurenai a scroll and nodding to her before disappearing once more.

Curious, Kiba, Shino and Hinata ran over. "What's up sensei?" inquired Kiba, getting an affirmative yip from the small puppy once more perched on his head.

The Genjutsu Mistress's unusual red eyes scanned the scroll, before looking down at Whisper and smiling. "Looks like we are going to have to finish this another time Whisper, the Hokage wants to see you. It's about Kroqgar."

Whisper's face went blank. None of them could tell what she was thinking. It grew uncomfortably quiet.

"Ummm… Kurenai-sensei?"

"Yes Whisper?"

"…Can you help me up?"

...

Well, here's Chapter 7! We are slowly getting through it, and DING DING! Take THAT 50k words! New personal best!

Well, as always, I have a couple things to say. Firstly: even though this is now a fully fledged chapter, their powers will probably shift around a little. It felt right when I was writing it, but they seem a bit off now, so I'll give it another look, and when they get in a real combat situation, we'll see how it pans out. Also, the Windwall Jutsu! That will be explained next chapter, as will a few other bits and pieces.

Speaking of the next chapter, I suppose this is the first cliffhanger of the series isn't it? Geez, it's been a while, I barely recognised it. Well, hopefully this makes a couple more of you stop and give me a review, if only to hurry me along!

And speaking of once more, reviews! I need to get your opinions, guys! I don't know how I'm doing or what I can change without them, and I could just stop if I don't get enough. Do you want that? Huh? Do ya? Yeah. In all seriousness, please, I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this story, but if you can spare just a couple of minutes at the end, if only for a thumbs up and a "good job" or a thumbs down and a "get fucked", you have no idea how much that would help.

As always, until next time,  
~Kroqgar


	8. Reservations, Demonstrations and Explana

**Chapter 8:**** Reservations, Demonstrations and Explanations**

A concerned Whisper paced back and forth in the small waiting room before Tsunade's office, her nerves refusing to settle. Ever since she had gotten the message from Kurenai that the Hokage wanted to talk to her about Kroqgar, she had been unable to stop her mind from wandering to one terrible conclusion to the next. When she arrived at the Hokage Mansion, Whisper immediately accosted Shizune, almost begging the older kunoichi to tell her what was going on, but the Hokage's assistant was adamant, refusing to reveal even the smallest detail. Finally, Whisper raised her sparkling emerald eyes to gaze out the small window, standing stock still.

Some time later, Tsunade's voice carried through from her office, "Shizune, you can send her in!" The raven haired medic turned to relay the news to the surprisingly calm and patient genin, to find that Whisper had already crossed the room and was wrenching the door open.

She rushed in to the office to find a slightly amused Tsunade sitting behind her desk and a smiling Kroqgar standing next to the chair sitting in front of it. Before either could get a word out, she launched herself at Kroqgar, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. Kroqgar wrapped his arms around her reassuringly, and Whisper buried her face in his chest. Tsunade smiled slightly, even averting her eyes, willing to let the two have their moment. They recaptured her attention however, with a sudden movement and a muffled cry of "Oof!"

She returned her gaze to the genin to find a fuming Whisper with one fist buried in Kroqgar's gut, the taller ninja somewhat bent over by the force of the blow. "Don't ever scare me like that again", growled Whisper, even as she held on to him more tightly.

"If your gonna hit me that hard next time then deal."

"Okay," interrupted Tsunade, drawing the focus of the genin, "I hate to have to break this up but we've got a few things to go through." Slowly, Whisper and Kroqgar disengaged, leaving only their hands clasped. Whisper exhaled a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as she squeezed Kroqgar's hand, and smiled softly when he squeezed back.

Tsunade leaned forward to rest her chin on her interlaced hands. "Whisper, I imagine you are quite curious as to why I've called you here, especially so since it is about Kroqgar." The Hokage's eyes slid from one figure to the other.

"Yes, very much so Lady Hokage."

Tsunade was silent for a moment. "Kroqgar is here because earlier today we thought he killed Kakashi."

Whisper's eyes grew wide and she drew in a sharp breath. Her gaze snapped to Kroqgar, and he met it with a somewhat embarrassed smile, as he recalled the day's earlier events.

…

_Kroqgar suddenly awoke to the face of none other than Inoichi Yamanaka, a member of the Konoha Interrogation Unit. The jounin's hand was resting on his shoulder. Apparently he had just been shaken awake. He shook his head for a moment, and realised he was sitting on a hard, metal chair._

_The mind reader spoke. "He's awake, Lady Hokage."_

"_Good."_

_Kroqgar turned his head to find Tsunade leaning against one of the walls of the room, her arms folded in front of her. He finally realised just where he was, in a small, featureless, black room, with only one light suspended from the ceiling above him. A quick glance confirmed his suspicions: two ANBU stood guard behind him._

"_Alright Kroqgar, here's what's going to happen." Inoichi demanded his attention once more. "We are going to ask you a few questions, and all you have to do is answer truthfully." The jounin placed his hand on Kroqgar's forehead. The genin considered it wise to not move at the moment._

"_I am going to know if you even think about lying, and if you attempt to fight against me in any way, it will be taken as a sign of your duplicity and we will react accordingly." Kroqgar looked into Inoichi's eyes and saw no sign of anger or malice, merely caution and resolve. "I am sure you are currently quite confused as to why you are even here, correct?"_

_Kroqgar nodded once, saying "Yes, Completely!" As he did so, he felt something akin to a shadow pass over his thoughts. It didn't hinder his thinking in any way, merely loomed over it, covering all. Inoichi, his mouth set into a firm line, nodded._

"_Good. I am currently repressing some of your most recent memories, the ones that pertain to why exactly you are here." Kroqgar began to panic. Oh God, what had he done?_

"_We thought it wise to do so, so that you were unable to think them over, so that when we question you we get the first, unadulterated answer that comes to your mind. And believe me," said Inoichi, grinning slightly for the first time, "I might know what it is before you do."_

_Kroqgar did his best to try and clear his mind to give the older shinobi complete access to his thoughts, not the easiest thing to do when he was panicking. "Normally," continued Inoichi, "I would simply delve into your memories and uncover all the information I needed, however Lady Hokage has forbade me from doing so." Kroqgar's gaze slid to a blank Tsunade, her face and poise giving no indication as to how he stood with her. However, given that she had prevented them from gaining all the secrets that he and Whisper knew of their world, he took this latest turn as a positive sign._

"_Anyway..." Kroqgar looked back to the jounin. "I'm now going to unleash your memories. Lady Tsunade, care to do the honours?" The Hokage stood straight and nodded at Inoichi. The pressure of the Yamanaka's hand on Kroqgar's forehead increased infinitesimally for a moment before what felt like an electric shock jolted his brain, making him flinch at the unexpected sting. Images and sounds assailed his brain, surprisingly similar to when he received his insights into the abilities of a shinobi. Up until this point, he had remembered the start if his spar with Kakashi, but little else. Now he recalled the day in its entirety, from seeming to trounce the elite jounin, to being shown how superior the Copycat Ninja was, to... His eyes widened. He gasped._

_Inoichi nodded once. "He's ready."_

_Tsunade stepped closer to Kroqgar and looked him in the eyes. "Did you intend to harm Kakashi?"_

_Kroqgar responded instantly, "No!", before realising how foolish that was. "Well, I mean, yes, we were sparring, so... Yes, I guess I did."_

_Tsunade looked to Inoichi. Konoha's top mind reader, eyes closed, nodded._

"_Did you intend to kill Kakashi?"_

"_NO!" This time his answer was instant and obvious. "Absolutely not! I know he said to aim to kill him, but even if I was able to, which I don't think I am, I wouldn't even consider it!"_

_Once more, Tsunade looked to Inoichi. She was surprised to find him standing there with a slightly amazed look on his face, eyes open in mild disbelief._

"_Truthful," he said. "_Very_ truthful."_

_Tsunade's eyebrows raised, mirroring Inoichi's amazement. Like him, she knew that there were levels and layers of the mind, and that the concept of "true" or "false" was somewhat fluid, as a question part of the mind could answer positively, others answered negatively. The trick to it was recognizing which part of the mind was likely to have the most correct answer, which simply came with time and experience. However for Inoichi to respond as he had, Tsunade knew that Kroqgar's answer must have rung true with _every_ part of his mind. At that point she determined that whatever else drove him, the young shinobi did not mean to harm Konoha._

"_Alright...," she continued, "What do you remember?"_

_Kroqgar's brow furrowed as he replayed the events in his head. "I remember being-" A smile crept on to his face. "-introduced to Naruto and Sakura. Then Kakashi-sensei and I started sparring. I seemed to be winning at first, but I think that was only because I surprised him. He started wearing me down... I tried to get the drop on him, but he saw right through me... The last thing I remember is that everything was white, and my body moved on its own."_

_Tsunade once more got an affirmative from Inoichi, then turned to look behind him, at one of the ANBU he guessed. Whatever she saw there seemed to satisfy her._

"_Last question. Do you remember..." She seemed to pause, choosing her words. "Gaining any _new knowledge_ recently?" The emphasis she placed on the two words made it quite clear to Kroqgar that she was referring to the insights he and Whisper continuously received. Puzzled at her meaning, he went to answer in the negative, before a familiar flash passed across his vision. His vision whited out for a moment, but for once he retained enough presence of mind to be aware of his surroundings, enabling him to hear the pained grunt that came from Inoichi and the sudden removal of the hand on his forehead, not to mention the smallest of rustles from behind him. When his mind cleared, he felt that the shadow of Inoichi's presence was gone._

_His vision slowly returned, revealing a somewhat irritated Inoichi shaking his hand back and forth. Gazing downward, he was rewarded with his own visage, reflected in the blade that was being held across his throat. The outstretched hand of Tsunade was likely the only thing that had halted the ANBU in causing his own swift demise._

"_Inoichi, what happened?"_

_The mind reader looked baffled. "I honestly don't know Lady Hokage. It felt like something just struck my hand like a hammer. One moment I was in his mind, then the next, I simply wasn't. There was no struggle, I was just blasted out."_

_Tsunade regarded Kroqgar for a moment. "Kroqgar, is this _new knowledge_ something you feel like sharing at the moment?"_

_The answer was obvious. "No, not right now Lady Tsunade." He couldn't take the risk with other people in the room. Tsunade nodded her understanding._

"_Very well. ANBU, please remove your blade. Kroqgar will accompany me back to my office; he is cleared of all charges. All of what transpired here is an S-Rank secret, understood?"_

_The three other ninja straightened, saying in chorus, "Yes Lady Hokage!"_

"_Good. Dismissed."_

…

"Kroqgar and I have merely been discussing exactly what his new abilities are. And I must say, I'm quite anxious to discover whether you have gained the same power."

"Power?" asked a puzzled Whisper. Tsunade nodded to Kroqgar.

The larger genin held out his hand, palm up. Just above his palm a small golden orb suddenly burst into existence. It gave off a slight warmth, bathing them all in golden light. Whisper, eyes wide, leant forwards to examine it, reaching out with her hand as she did so. She stopped just short, before turning to Tsunade.

"What is it?"

"If I'm right", said the Hokage, gazing at the orb with some wonder herself, "And Kroqgar seems to think that I am, it's called _ki._"

They both noticed the shadow pass over Whisper's eyes. When her attention was once more focused on Kroqgar, he grinned at her as he closed his fist, dousing the sphere of ki. "Let me guess... You know all about it?"

She grinned right back. "Yep."

"We thought this might happen." Both of the genin once more turned their attention to Tsunade. "Since so far both of you have gained the same knowledge almost simultaneously, with the exception of your new weapons, we figured that if one of you saw the other had gained an insight they had not, it would be unlocked for you. It seems we were correct."

"Ok," said Whisper, wrapping her mind around the concept. "Then how come I didn't gain the knowledge the normal way, like Kroq did?"

Tsunade mentally nodded. The girl was sharp, she would make a fine shinobi. "That's where your wrong: Kroqgar _didn't_ gain the knowledge the normal way."

The female genin blinked in surprise. "Then how did he unlock it?"

"It's purely a theory at this point, but we think if you perceive at some level that you are in a life-threatening situation with no way out, knowledge that would be unlocked for you in time is immediately granted, as well as applied subconsciously."

"That explains why it felt like my body was moving on its own, even though I was pretty much out of it after Kakashi's hit," said Kroqgar, rubbing at a point on his jaw that, if not for Tsunade's legendary healing prowess, would now be sporting quite a bruise. "I gained the ability to use ki, but my mind knew that I didn't have the time to go through the usual spacing out, so we think my subconscious took control of my body to "save my life"."

"Anyway, that's enough explaining for now," said Tsunade, rising from her desk. "Whisper, try and summon a ki sphere of your own."

The genin raised her hand, and but a moment later a golden sphere floated there. Her smile easily outshone it. Tsunade nodded in approval, while Kroqgar just smiled right back at her.

"Alright," said the Hokage, donning her jacket, "We'll go and see Kakashi in the hospital. Don't worry," she replied to their stunned faces, "He's completely fine, I just want him to rest up a little. There was much less damage than there looked. First, however, we are going to go and see just how powerful your new abilities are."

Pausing only to retrieve something from her desk drawer and place it in her jacket, Tsunade walked to the door, motioning for the two of them to follow her. Whisper closed her fist, cancelling the ki orb and feeling the small glow of energy rush back in to her system, before rising and heading out with Kroqgar.

…

Jiraiya grumbled under his breath, even though there was no one around this far out from the village. Here he was, trying to enjoy an all too rare holiday, when suddenly he was accosted by a small slug, demanding that he get to work lest all the bath houses in the city be shut down for a week, by order of the Hokage.

The older man leaned back against a tree from his position on the earth, long since finished with his task. He had no idea why Tsunade would want this particular clearing in the forest laced with privacy and containment seals, nor why she needed him to wait there for her when she was perfectly capable of activating the seals herself, but her threat was more than enough to make him wait for a few minutes.

The Toad Sage was just beginning to consider tamping some tobacco into his pipe when his former team mate arrived, along with Shizune and those two intriguing genin from earlier, Kroqgar and Whisper. He rose to his feet, his curiousity piqued. This could be interesting.

…

"Alright Kroqgar, since your fight was much less chakra intensive than Whisper's, we'll get you to demonstrate exactly what you two are capable of now."

Kroqgar raised a brow at Tsunade. "What's chakra got to do with it?"

The kunoichi grinned slightly, saying "I'll tell you afterwards, I don't want to ruin the surprise for Jiraiya."

"You mean they're just gonna show off a new jutsu?" Jiraiya sighed in disapointment. "Boooriiing.."

Tsunade laughed at her former team-mate. "Just get ready you old toad, I think you'll be surprised. Now, you made the seals like I requested?"

"Yes I made the seals like you _requested,_" Jiraiya responded, the last word dripping with sarcasm. "Things can pass through from the inside, but not come in from the outside."

"Including jutsu?"

"Including jutsu."

"Ok!" Tsunade clapped her hands together. "Kroqgar, fire when you are ready! Your target is..." her gaze wandered for a moment, before alighting on a boulder at the far side of the clearing. "That rock!"

"Actually, Lady Tsunade," Kroqgar replied, somewhat hesistantly, "I think a different target might be better."

She quirked a brow at him. "Oh?"

"Yeah. You see, where I know of these abilities from, they are powerful enough to destroy entire planets. I don't think I'll get anywhere near that level of intensity, but... I'd rather not take the risk", he finished with a chuckle.

Tsunade nodded. "Fair enough. What did you have in mind?"

Kroqgar raised his arm, pointing at a nearby mountain. Tsunade nodded her approval, saying "Alright, no one lives on that mountain or between it and here, so that should be fine. Go when you are ready."

Jiraiya edged from his position at the side of Kroqgar to a spot more behind the genin, not wanting to take even the slightest risk of catching the backlash from a technique capable of destroying a planet. The prospect was laughable, but he'd lived a long time and seen some strange things. He believed that anything was possible.

Kroqgar took a deep breath, before crouching slightly and cupping his hands behind his back, wrists together, palms out. All heads (aside from Kroqgar's) turned at the sound of flesh striking flesh, to see Whisper with her palm to her forehead. Shizune nudged the younger kunoichi, asking 'What's up?"

The genin sighed. "I know exactly what he's gonna do."

"Kaaaa..."

All eyes flicked to Kroqgar.

"Meeeee..."

"Turtle?" said Jiraiya, confused. He turned to Tsunade. "Is this a new summoning jutsu?" She shushed him, continuing to watch Kroqgar.

"Haaaa... Meeeee..."

"Destructive!" continued the Toad Sage. "This is getting interesti-". He cut off as a bright blue ball suddenly appeared between Kroqgar hands, quickly growing to fill his grip. His eyes widened as he realised what it was. "No..."

"HAAAAAAA!"

Kroqgar thrust his hands forward as he yelled, aiming at the peak of the mount. Whisper had the distinct pleasure of watching Jiraiya, Shizune and Tsunade's jaws drop as they watched Kroqgar launch a beam of what looked like solid blue light from his hands, almost-but-not-quite bright enough to force them to look away. The head of the blast raced towards the mountain, moving incredibly swiftly, fast enough that both sannin knew they could not outpace it.

The attack collided with the mountain in a blinding explosion of light, a dull boom followed by a deep rumble sounding moments later. Before the stunned shinobi's eyes, the energy shockwave of Kroqgar's attack grew and grew, expanding beyond the original zone of impact. Kroqgar, breathing heavily, slowly lowered his arms and looked towards the stunned Sannin as the light from the blast faded. The sight of two such heavily experienced ninjas gaping unashamedly at his handiwork caused him to break into a grin.

The distant sound of the upper portion of the mountain collapsing progressed the grin into a full blown laugh. Kroqgar turned to witness rock and gravel collapsing into the huge crater left by the Kamehameha, the hole easily big enough to swallow up the entirety of the Konoha Stadium. As the dust settled, the mighty stone monolith was left looking somewhat like a child's destroyed sandcastle. Kroqgar was still laughing as, without warning, he suddenly collapsed onto his hands and knees, barely stopping himself from continuing on to the ground.

The assembled shinobi rushed to his side, none faster than Whisper. As she and Shizune aided him in rising, he managed a tired smile. "I think I overdid it."

…

Some time later, the five ninja could be found in the hospital, gathered around the bed of one Kakashi Hatake, along with a somewhat bewildered Kurenai, her curiosity as to the situation and her student's abrupt summons earlier in the day clear. As Kakashi, Kroqgar and Tsunade began to go over the events of the day, Whisper broke away from them to speak with her.

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei! What are you doing here?"

"Hey Whisper," replied the jounin, smiling at her newest student, "Lady Tsunade asked me to come here and wait for you. What was the problem earlier?"

"Uhhh... I think I'll leave that one to Lady Tsunade," said Whisper, as the older kunoichi beckoned the pair of them over. Kroqgar and Kakashi seemed to have gotten over that whole awkward "sorry I nearly killed you" conversation, so the Hokage got right to business.

"Alright, Kakashi, Kurenai, you two know all about how Whisper and Kroqgar are sometimes granted additional knowledge and abilities." The two sensei's grinned slightly as they recalled the unexpected and sudden fighting prowess of their newest students. "It would seem that Kroqgar inadvertently gained yet another ability, which he was then able to awaken in Whisper. Kroqgar?" The genin was still weak, but feeling much better than he had been, thanks to a chakra transfer jutsu on Tsunade's part. He was more than capable of summoning a familiar golden sphere above his hand. Only Jiraiya noticed Kakashi flinch slightly. "It is known as _ki_."

Both of the jounin blinked in confusion. Kurenai asked, "But Lady Hokage, I thought it was impossible to use ki unless you use it for chakra?"

Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Without a word, she waved Jiraiya forward. The sannin stood from his position leaning against the wall, and faced the assembled.

"You all know that chakra is created by mixing one's physical energy with one's spiritual energy, or ki, also known as your life force. People who can use pure ki are incredibly rare, in fact to the best of my knowledge there is currently no one else alive save for these two," he indicated Kroqgar and Whisper with a nod of his head, "who can."

Kakashi, for once, was absolutely stumped. "Why's that?"

"Over time, the secrets of using pure ki were lost," replied Jiraiya, nodding sagely. "Eventually, it simply fell out of use. Furthermore, using pure ki was heavily discouraged, due to the fact that using one's life force to power an ability is widely considered not worth the risk. Considering how much life force a person should have, I know that this guy," continued Jiraiya, pointing at Kroqgar, "should be dead, or at least in far worse health than he is, after seeing what he did earlier today. Somehow, Kroqgar and presumably Whisper have gained additional reserves of ki beyond those that are needed to keep them alive, which they are able to tap into at will."

"Ah, so that's how chakra is involved." When everyone looked at her, Whisper continued, "Well, Lady Tsunade got Kroqgar to demonstrate the power of our ki-based abilities earlier today over me, due to the fact that his fight with Kakashi-sensei was less chakra intensive than mine with Kurenai-sensei."

"You can say that again..." muttered the Genjutsu Mistress.

Whisper smiled. "I was wondering why that was so, but I guess I know now. Since chakra requires ki to be created, and since we seem to have an over-abundance of ki, I guess we are limited by our physical energy at the moment. Plus, this means we don't have separate reserves of power inside of us, considering that both energies require ki."

After Whisper's explanation, Kakashi looked to Jiraiya. He knew the other ninja was stealthy, but even considering that he was a sannin, good enough to evade _his_ notice? Kakashi was by no means arrogant, but he knew his own formidable skills. "You saw him get me with the ki sphere?"

To his surprise, the large man burst out laughing. "You mean that little love tap? Heh, you got off easy Kakashi, you have no idea."

"Ok then, enlighten me."

"Hmmmm..." Jiraiya tapped his finger on his chin theatrically. "Ok then. You know Mount Toukai, outside the village?"

Both jounin nodded in the affirmative. "What of it?" asked Kurenai.

The sannin grinned like the idiot he so often acted like. "It's now Mount Tou, Kroqgar blew the "kai" part away."

The implications of this statement took a moment to sink in.

Kurenai spoke up first. "So... Your saying that this _genin_ was able to destroy half a mountain with a single technique?" The jounin's respect for the sannin was clearly warring with her disbelief.

Tsunade took no umbrage at her skepticism, however. "Firstly, I think we should remember that, given the circumstances, Kroqgar and Whisper's rank is more a matter of protocol than anything else. Secondly, he didn't blow half a mountain away, this fool is exaggerating." Jiraiya grinned.

"Alright then," said Kakashi, "How powerful is it?"

"Well, the..." Tsunade looked to Kroqgar. "What was it again?"

"The Kamehameha," explained Kroqgar. "Its named after its creator, a man called "The Turtle Hermit", in a book I once read, the same book that pretty much gave me and Whisper all the knowledge of ki we have. Simple, but powerful."

"The Kamehameha," continued Tsunade, "I'd say is a borderline A-rank, S-rank technique, depending on how much energy Kroqgar puts into it. If he went all out at his peak, and I mean he'd have to be hospitalised afterwards due to exhaustion... Then yes, I'd say blowing up half the mountain would definitely have been possible."

The two jounin senseis shared a stunned silence. After a moment, Kurenai turned to Kakashi and said, "You were _hit_ by one of these techniques?"

The former ANBU Captain laughed drily. "I almost wish I had been. Would've hurt a lot less."

"Kroqgar hit Kakashi with a lesser form of attack, a ki sphere," explained Whisper, summoning one above her own hand. "More advanced than the Kamehameha, but more difficult to control and less powerful."

"Actually, I have to correct you there Whisper."

All heads turned to Tsunade, to see the Hokage standing there with a slight smirk on her face. Only Shizune knew what she was up to, the younger kunoichi heaving a sigh.

"Had Kroqgar actually hit _you_ with the ki attack, Kakashi, you would be in much, much worse shape than you are now. In fact, you'd probably be off your feet for up to a few weeks. Thankfully, you were only hit by the splashback of the attack that was blocked by an old friend of yours."

Even someone like Kakashi can have their memory somewhat befuddled by a minor explosion. "Who?" he asked, baffled.

…

Outside the hospital, Kiba Inuzuka was taking one of his clans newest nindogs for a walk, the small puppy walking beside the larger Akamaru, occasionally wuffing at something the senior dog barked. A loud yell caused Kiba to start in surprise, Akamaru to twitch his ears, and so frightened the little puppy that it ran to Kiba for reassurance.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Picking up the nin-puppy, and with an affirmative _yip_ from Akamaru letting him ride in his jacket, Kiba turned towards the hospital and muttered, "Yeesh, sounds like that guy's getting neutered..."

…

Kakashi cradled the thing Tsunade had given him in his arms like a baby. The sannin herself was simply laughing at his predicament, earning her an annoyed glare from her former team mate.

Once her mirth subsided somewhat, Tsunade said in an amused tone "You know, you've never been luckier to be a pervert, Kakashi."

The Copy Ninja, staring at the orange book in his hand with a charred hole burnt right through the center, could only nod glumly.

"Well, we know how Kroqgar and Kakashi went. Kurenai?" The jounin looked to the Hokage as she was addressed. "Now you know why I had to call Whisper away. How did she go before that?"

"Very well, Lady Hokage," she replied with a nod. "Honestly, she had me on the ropes for a little there. Some of her jutsu were quite powerful, in fact she pulled off a couple I've never seen before. I've been dying to know exactly how she did one of them though." The Genjutsu Mistress eyed her genin student curiously.

Whisper laughed softly at the look. "The Exploding Water Shockwave Jutsu?"

"That's the one." Kurenai noticed the questioning looks on the face of the other shinobi in the room. "During our spar, Whisper used a powerful form of that jutsu against me. I thought I'd avoided it, and focused on her next attack, but it changed direction, and I barely avoided getting hit by both techniques. How did you manipulate your jutsu after you'd released it?"

"I didn't really manipulate the jutsu, per se," explained Whisper, "I simply used another jutsu in conjunction with it."

"Which jutsu?" asked her sensei curiously.

Whisper smiled. "The Windwall Jutsu."

After a moment of contemplation, Kurenai responded, "Never heard of it."

"I know it's not medical, I can tell you that."

"In my expert opinion, it's probably no good for doing any sort of research, either."

Even Kakashi came up with nothing. "Sorry, never heard of it before."

Whisper and Kroqgar smiled broadly. "You wouldn't have," answered the larger genin, "Me and Whisper made it up back in our world."

As the Hokage, and as such, the supreme military commander of Konoha and its forces, Tsunade felt she needed to know what this technique was and how it works. She said as much.

Whisper nodded her agreement and went on to explain the jutsu. "Essentially, it simply creates a wall made out of wind, of whatever size I want, wherever I want, of whatever strength I want, depending on how much chakra I put into it. The jutsu simply solidifies the air in a certain spot, depending on what direction the impact is going to come from. So, for example..." She lashed out with her first in front of her. "If I was going to block that punch with the Windwall jutsu, I'd really only be creating a very strong gust of air the same size as my first, moving in the exact opposite direction, with the exact same amount of force, localised entirely at the point where I wanted my fist to stop. If I put extra force into it, I could even blow my hand back into my body, or even simply blow it apart."

Jiraiya nodded, his eyes narrowed in thought. "That's a very versatile jutsu."

Whisper grinned. "You don't know the half of it. Without redoing the handseals, you can continually make more windwalls. Allow me to show you my favourite use so far." With a smile on her face, Whisper flashed through a series of handseals, before intoning, "Wind Style: Windwall Jutsu!" Holding a one handed seal, she stepped forward, and... up. She seemed to push off an invisible step in mid-air, before falling a foot or so to both feet again.

Walking over to the window and throwing it wide, still holding the one handed seal, she explained, "There is a time limit as to how long one can go between performing all the hand seals, and summoning another windwall, however this is extended by summoning other windwalls. You can pretty much keep creating them after the original seals until your chakra runs out. But the best part about them is..."

Whisper leapt out of the window, and all those in the room (save for Kakashi who had his nose buried in a shiny new orange book that Jiraiya had surreptiously handed him) rushed over to find her leaping from one foot to the next in mid-air, rising several feet each time, and thrusting the one handed seal forward slightly each time she pushed off again.

"Using this jutsu, you can pretty much run around the sky."

Whisper leaped over the heads of those present and, executing a quick flip, landed perfectly. "Each time you create a new wall, you simply have to reinforce the last seal. Though depending on how chakra intensive it is, you might also have to say "Kabe" each time."

"That is actually one of the more clever jutsu I've encountered," said Tsunade, a smile creeping its way over her features. "You two have surprised me again. So long as you don't mind sharing that jutsu with others, if you could write it down on a scroll I can have copies drawn up in an hour."

The genin shared a look, then nodded. "Just give us a week to try it out," intoned Kroqgar. Whisper nodded in agreement.

Tsunade mirrored her action. "Excellent! I can think of a few shinobi right now who could find some great uses for that. Anyway." She turned towards the two senseis. "I never asked... What level do you think they are at? I've got my own assumptions, but you two have seen a wider variety of their skills than I have. What are their specialties?"

Kakashi answered first. "I'd say that Kroqgar's biggest strength is his... Well, strength, right now, aside from his ki abilities, of course. He may not be as strong as you, Lady Tsunade, but at full power I'm not sure I could block one of his hits. He thinks on his feet too, he did a trick with tree climbing and the substitution jutsu I've never seen before. Overall... Good basics, specialised techniques, smart, resourceful and willing to learn."

Kroqgar blushed slightly at the praise, wishing more than ever for his concealing black fur.

"A good student, and I think a good shinobi. I'd put him at about... mid to high chunin, minimum. I didn't really see any jutsu, and with his ki-based moves as well, it's difficult to place him exactly. Although, I'd say that low jounin would be his maximum. And that's power, not threat level."

Jiraiya noticed the confused looks pass over Kroqgar and Whisper's visages. "Your power level is simply a conclusion based on all your individual skills. Your threat level is those skills as a whole, and how you use them. For example, someone could be chunin level in power, but be a jounin level threat due to a different factor, perhaps how smart they are."

Kakashi nodded. "Right now, you'd probably be low to mid chunin level, threat-wise. And really, that's only because you've been shinobi for what, a day? Whereas, for example..." Kakashi only _just_ concealed his smirk. "...Lady Hokage has been a ninja for, oh, forty five years? Forty six?"

Before Tsunade gave Kakashi the chance to feel the same way as his former book, Shizune intervened, quickly asking, "And Kurenai? What about Whisper?"

The Genjutsu Mistress stated with a smile that, somewhat unsurprisingly, Whisper was very close to Kroqgar in terms of skill. "Though where he might exceed in terms of strength, I think that Whisper has most of us cornered on speed." Her unusual eyes slid to the sannin. "Lady Tsunade, Master Jiraiya, you two could likely outpace her, simply because... Well, your sannin. Short of opening the chakra gates, I don't think any of us..." She indicated herself, Kakashi and Shizune. "...Would stand a chance in catching her."

"I think Whisper is also less of a reactionary fighter than Kroqgar, from what I've heard." The jounin nodded to herself, thinking. "She had always planned a few steps ahead, and I had to be pretty crafty to evade her at some points. Plus, she used her jutsu _very_ effectively. Perhaps towards the end, she might have gone a bit overboard, but I was wearing her down by that point, so I can appreciate her tactics to throw me off guard." She laughed softly. "Worked pretty well, too."

"So where do you think she stands?" asked the Hokage.

"I'd say she's about as talented as Kroqgar right now, skills wise. As a threat though, I'd say that to compare their skills, they have to be in different situations. For example, I think that Whisper would be more dangerous were she to be the aggressor in an exchange, however Kroqgar would be superior at defense. Given time to plan, Whisper is the greater threat, however when surprised, I think that Kroqgar would be the more formidable."

Kroqgar and Whisper caught eyes from across the room, and grinned widely. Both were clearly wondering how they would fare in combat against the other.

Tsunade nodded, trusting the judgement of the two jounin. "So, the last order of business for the day. Kakashi."

At her tone, the jounin instantly closed his book (he knew which page he was on off by heart anyway) and faced her. She sounded very serious, and he knew why. He didn't need the sharingan to note the smallest hint of concern in her eyes.

"Do you think we can tell Naruto?"

The Copy Ninja considered this very carefully. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders, and stated truthfully, "I honestly don't know. I was hoping to sit my team down for a talk after my fight with Kroqgar, but I suppose he had other ideas." The jounin's eye-smile contained only good humour, showing he did not blame Kroqgar for the situation. "I was going to base my judgement on whether Naruto was ready on how he reacted to Kroqgar then." His smile seemed to grow wider. "I suppose I'll just have to decide after seeing how they interact when I take them out for dinner tonight."

…

Naruto and Sakura were wary of Kroqgar as he approached them alongside Kakashi, but the older ninja put them at ease, saying his injury was simply the result of getting careless, and that Kroqgar had fought well. Seeing his students both begin to grin knowingly at him, he immediately amended "But I only did so as a lesson to you two, to make sure you always stay on your guard! Honestly, the things a sensei does for his students..." Kakashi was a master of both hiding and saving face.

Naruto and Sakura relaxed visibly around their newest team mate, now that their fears had been put to rest. Still, the somewhat more intelligent Sakura was skeptical. "If everything was fine then why did the ANBU immediately arrest Kroqgar?"

The genin himself answered the question. "I used a forbidden jutsu", he said simply. "I guess your ANBU really take that seriously around here."

Sakura seemed appeased, but Naruto lit up at the thought of learning a powerful new technique.

"Which jutsu was it? Can you teach it to me? How does it work?"

Kroqgar waved off his questions with both a hand and a laugh. "I'd like to Naruto, but, like I said, it's forbidden."

An infinitesimal inclination of Kakashi's head showed his approval of Kroqgar's fabrication. Naruto seemed about to press the matter, but luckily Kakashi had what he liked to call "Naruto-bait".

"Here we are team, Ichiraku's Ramen Bar!"

…

Almost an hour later, Kakashi paid the group's bill, politely declining offers by the others to pay for their own share (though he was sorely tempted to allow Naruto to pay his own way, the genin having eaten more than the rest of them combined). Over the course of the dinner, the sensei of Team 7 had come across a rather pleasant surprise.

Kroqgar was a surprisingly good kind of guy.

True, Kakashi had already known as much from their earlier meetings, but just sitting down and quietly eating dinner with the younger man gave Kakashi a new respect for him. Though he enjoyed spending time with his students, teaching them and helping them become better shinobi, they were just children. Less than half his age. And even though two of them had led lives one wouldn't call particularly enchanted, all three of them were... Well, were very immature. Growing less so every day, almost astoundingly so, admitted the Copy Ninja, but still, just children.

Though only a few years their senior, Kroqgar behaved older than some jounin Kakashi knew. No doubt some of that could be attributed to just a few additional birthdays, but Kakashi liked to think that the vast majority of Kroqgar's maturity stemmed from his previous life, which even Kakashi could admit must have been horrific. Naruto's still took the cake, but more and more Kroqgar and Whisper were coming up a close second.

Odd as it was, Kakashi felt he could _relate_ to Kroqgar. Felt he could share a more adult joke, discuss a more mature topic. He looked forward to experiencing that with his other students, but for now, it was good to have someone to talk to around. Even a jounin can get bored.

Now, as the four of them were walking in the same general direction that would take them each home, the jounin wrestled with a difficult question. Hands in his pockets, eyes lowered, brow slightly furrowed, Kakashi tried to decide whether Naruto was ready to learn about Kroqgar, about Whisper, about... About all of them.

He kept walking, listening with half an ear to the conversation of his students. Did Naruto even need to know? He barely let the notion cross his mind however, before dismissing it with a barely noticeable shake of his head. The boy had a right to know. This concerned all of them, but none more so than Naruto. Kakashi was practical enough to admit that he was far more mature than Naruto when he had been the genin's age, but he was not so old that he did not remember what it was like to be a borderline teenager. He would feel almost violated to have this secret kept from him, and his trust towards those who had kept it would take a severe blow.

No, thought Kakashi, sighing heavily, Naruto needed to know. But was he ready? Had he accepted Kroqgar? Could he handle it?

An insistent tugging on his sleeve brought the usually incredibly situationally aware shinobi back to his senses. Focussing back on the moment, he looked down to see a slightly embarrassed Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"What's up Sakura?"

The kunoichi pointed towards her teammates. "I've already hit Naruto more times than Lady Tsunade says I'm allowed to each week and I'm not sure I could hurt Kroqgar. Can you _please_ stop them?"

Turning, Kakashi grinned underneath his mask. Kroqgar had Naruto in a headlock, rubbing at the much smaller boys scalp with a knuckle, saying "Naruto likes Ayame! Naruto likes Ayame!" (Naruto had been the only one brave (stupid?) enough to try Ayame's hastily created, brand new ramen recipe, the name of which the other three hadn't heard, so enraptured they were by the absurdly unpleasant appearance of the dish when Ayame had handed it over to Naruto).

Kakashi's grin widened into a full smile when, seconds later, all that could be seen of Kroqgar was a single, twitching arm, poking out of a pile of Narutos, all chorusing "Kroqgar likes Whisper! Kroqgar likes Whisper!"

…

They stood before the door for a moment, hands clasped together tightly. Neither of them said anything, both somewhat unnerved by the task before them. After a short while, the larger of the two pulled the smaller into its arms, holding it tightly. The two shared a kiss, brief but fierce, before breaking apart. Simultaneously, Kroqgar and Whisper reached out and knocked on the door.

The two genin had spent the last hour or so with Kaji, working on their new weaponry. The experienced weaponsmith had done everything from taking their measurements to getting samples of their chakra, and the whole process had been rather exhausting. However they had been assured that this was the hard part, at least for them. Now that Kaji had everything he needed to get to work, all he needed them for was certain integral parts of the forging that he needed more of their chakra for, as well as several other minor tasks. Jiraiya had been there, oddly quiet and relaxed for once, simply sitting at the back of the room smoking a pipe. Occasionally, the sannin had interjected with a question, but beyond that, he may as well have been absent. (Though as the two had left, they had noticed he had page after page of writing and diagrams, all of a completely non-pervy variety, arrayed around him. Idly, they had wondered whether or not he knew more about Lady Tsunade's note-taking jutsu than she thought.)

As they had walked back towards their apartment building, Whisper (resting her head on Kroqgar's shoulder) had told him about what she had done that day. Her team had met up again after all the excitement of the day, however Kurenai had almost immediately been called away again, her genjutsu skills apparently needed to assist with an interrogation. The somewhat exasperated jounin had dismissed her students, telling them they had the rest of the day off. Whisper, eager to get to know her new team-mates better, suggested they all go out for a late lunch.

Hinata, Kiba and Shino all steadily got over their wariness towards Whisper, and began to treat her as one of them. She felt a little out of place at times, being older than them at a stage where age matters so much, but Hinata and Shino were far more mature than their age might suggest, and Kiba... Well, he could be a little funny, and she could tell that he was a good person. Plus, Akamaru was _adorable._ Whilst petting the little puppy in her lap, Whisper had to hold back a laugh. "_Cherish these moments Whisper, he's gonna get a _lot_ bigger._"

The four of them had ended up having a pretty good time, and Whisper knew she could now count each one of them as firm friends.

Kroqgar had then told Whisper that Kakashi had given them the O.K. to tell Naruto everything, and the disguised Vixen had immediately quietened. He continued softly, saying the jounin had doubled back after the four of them had separated, and had been with Naruto for a while now, subtly preparing him for the shock.

Now, as the door creaked open before them, they wondered whether or not _they_ were ready. (They also both had a moment of "_OhmygodI'minNaruto'sapartment!_")

"Finally!" Naruto stood before them, looking bored out of his mind. "Kakashi-sensei's been going on and on about you two getting here, he's been putting me to sleep!" The blonde stood aside to let them in, and the pair caught sight of Kakashi. The jounin flipped them a weary wave from his seat.

Naruto closed the door behind them, and followed them to his lounge area. There was just enough chairs to accommodate them all. A somewhat strained silence ensued, as a slightly nervous Naruto wondered what the three had to say to him, and the aforementioned three wondered how the hell to tell Naruto.

Finally, The Hidden Leaf's two newest shinobi shared a look, and squeezed each others hands briefly, before Kroqgar sighed heavily and collapsed into his seat. Somewhat more gracefully, Whisper lowered herself beside him.

"Naruto, you might want to sit down." Whisper spoke softly. She grinned almost sadly. "We've got a long story to tell you."

…

And so, Whisper and Kroqgar steadily told their story to Naruto and Kakashi, revealing more personal details than the version they had told the Hokage. Kakashi made no comment on the additions. They told Naruto of their earliest memories, of their lives, their fear, their loneliness, and, nearly bringing tears of joy to the eyes of the two genin, the look on Naruto's face was almost understanding.

Finally, they revealed their true appearances to him, and he promptly fell off his chair. Tentatively, he had asked if he could touch their hands and their faces, and they had obliged, eager to make this easier for him. Kroqgar even made an attempt at levity, growling deeply when Naruto had his hands close to his mouth, much to Kakashi's amusement.

They continued on to tell him about their entry in to Konoha, shocking the boy once more when he realised they were from a different world. He seemed unfazed when they corrected him and said they came from a different dimension, but they supposed that there wasn't much difference in this case, and that Naruto was probably too young to understand the concept anyway. They told him of how they had discovered they had the abilities of shinobi, as well as some other skills besides. They told him of how they had come across The Village Hidden In The Leaves, and how they had been allowed to see Tsunade and tell her their story.

Neither Kroqgar nor Whisper could really figure out how to go on from this point, and Kakashi, standing behind Naruto supportively, remained silent. Finally, the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox gave them the opening they needed.

"If you've come from an entirely different wor-dimension..." Naruto said, his brow furrowed in thought, "Then how do you know so much about Konoha and shinobi?"

The genin had much more trouble taking in this concept. They had to repeat themselves several times for him to even understand that, until recently, his entire existence was nothing but a few drawings and words to Kroqgar and Whisper. He ran a furious gambit of emotions, from anger to sadness, embarrassment to happiness.

Eventually, when all was said and done, the quartet simply sat in silence for over ten minutes. No one wanted to put any pressure on Naruto whatsoever. Both Kroqgar and Whisper were fully prepared for the possibility that he would reject them, want nothing to do with them, as others had done to him. Though they fervently desired otherwise, they would comply with his wishes if so. Naruto himself had done nothing but stare at a point on the floor with a frown on his face, his brow furrowed, hands clasped in front of him. Kakashi had made a placating gesture when Whisper had subtly glanced at him, indicating that nothing was wrong, Naruto was simply thinking.

After a tense eternity, the blonde's cerulean eyes slid to Kakashi and back to the floor so quickly even Kakashi almost missed it. The jounin understood the movement; Naruto was not making any signals, his train of thought had simply led him to Kakashi, and his eyes had reacted almost unconsciously.

He knew what to do, however. "Well," he began, unfurling himself from a chair, "I think that's enough for one night." All eyes turned to look at him. "Kroqgar, Whisper, you two had better get to bed, I'm sure you'll both need the rest after today. I think I'll stay here for a little while, all this talking has made me hungry and I feel like some ramen."

The elder genin clued on immediately; Kakashi was giving Naruto a chance to talk to him privately. They stood, transforming back in to their human guises.

"Naruto, if you need us, we'll be right next door, ok?" said Whisper, smiling encouragingly at him.

"Our door will always be open for you", added Kroqgar.

Naruto nodded absently in reply, gazing at them curiously. "Ok," he said finally, "Goodnight."

…

Kroqgar and Whisper lay in their bed, each holding on to the other tightly. Naruto's lack of hostility and courteous farewell were good signs, but both of them were still terribly nervous. In their most private thoughts, both were considering how excited they had been for this moment in the earlier parts of their day (had it really only been one day?); they were both sixteen, scantily clad and very much in love.

Now, lying here in the dark, both not only knew it would be terribly inappropriate, neither had even the slightest thoughts of any level of intimacy on their minds. Finally, Whisper felt Kroqgar take a deep, shuddering breath, and let it out in a sigh. As he exhaled, she felt something unwind within him, felt him relax when she hadn't known he'd been tense. Almost imperceptibly, she felt the slight thumping of his chest ease somewhat. She smiled softly to herself, before emulating him, and letting herself fall asleep in his arms.

The last thing she felt was the slightest tightening of his arms about her.

* * *

Another one bites the dust! I know the distance between chapters is deplorable, but I am going to finish this. I promised I will, and I'll be damned if I go back on that. Couple of notes on the story:

I didn't want them to pretty much have the same stats, except for speed vs strength of course, but I honestly couldn't think of a pplausible way to seperate their levels of power or threat.

You can almost tell that at the end there I was intending to lead towards a bit of "interaction" between Kroqgar and Whisper, but it honestly just didn't feel right after their talk with Naruto. However, we shall see what their morning brings.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. The next chapter will have a bit of timeskipping, so we'll get in to the nitty-gritty! Until then, please review, and enjoy life!


	9. Round 2, Weaponry 101

**Chapter 9:**** Round 2, Weaponry 101**

In the pitch dark of the room, Whisper's barely seen form was sprawled atop Kroqgar, his hands resting on her shapely rear. As they kissed each other, Whisper slowly worked her hands down Kroqgar's stomach, stopping at the waistband of his boxer shorts. Clad only in a bra and boxers herself, she disengaged from the kiss and sat up, looking down into his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" His tone was warm and gentle, filled with compassion and concern. She could tell that he was very eager, but she knew he would pull back in a heartbeat if told to.

Thankfully no such command was forthcoming. Leaning back down to kiss him once more, she smiled and breathed, "Yes..."

As her hands crept behind her to undo her bra... sunlight flooded into her open eyes.

Propping herself up on her hands, she looked confusedly around the room. A frustrated "Wah?" escaped her. As she realised that she had been dreaming and had just woken, a scowl settled on her muzzle. She had rather been looking forward to that dream.

She glanced downward. "_Speak of the devil._" She was, conveniently, sprawled atop Kroqgar, her hands resting on his chest as she held herself up, rising and falling with his steady breathing. A smile and a blush crept across her features, as they usually did whenever she awoke like this. As she shifted her lower body against him, the blush intensified and the smile lost its innocence. Though her anatomical knowledge was limited, she knew how males usually were in the morning, and that it was beyond their control.

Just as she was beginning to enjoy her predicament, a knock sounded at the door. Sighing, Whisper carefully disengaged from Kroqgar ( a small part of her mind growled in frustration) and headed out of the room, yawning as she went. "_Figures._" At least she knew what had woken her up so early now.

As she reached for the doorknob, a thought occurred to her. Steepling her fingers, she mumbled "Transfmshnjtsu..." A puff of smoke later, furless, pink-haired Whisper opened the door.

And was hurtled into painfully aware consciousness as she saw that it was Naruto.

"Naruto! What's wrong? Are you okay?" She leaned out of the door and looked both ways, concerned as to his unexpected presence so early. When the boy didn't answer, she met his gaze.

Or she tried to. His face was burning red, and he was staring dead ahead. A moment later, Whisper's still drowsy brain realised that Naruto only came up to her chest height and upon this realisation she suddenly became acutely aware that she was still clad in only a bra and boxers. Quickly slamming the door shut behind her, she called out "One second!" and silently sprinted back into her wardrobe via the bathroom to grab a robe. Hurtling past a still snoozing Kroqgar, she went back to the door, pulling on the robe and fastening it on the way. Now in a decent state of dress, she opened the door to see Naruto standing stock still, a stunned look on his face. With a brief smile, Whisper waved a hand in front of his face to break him out of his reverie.

That did it. When her met her gaze, she asked "Would you like to come in?"

His blush fading slightly, Naruto nodded. "Sure, thank you." He raised a hand to the back of his head. "Sorry about that just then, seeing you like that I mean, when you were like that, I didn't know you wouldn't be fully not ready like that and I wouldn't of otherwise but when you-"

Whisper quickly cut off his rambling, shaking her head and interjecting smoothly, "Don't worry about it, it's not your fault, it was my mistake for answering the door like that." She grinned, hoping to put him at ease. "Besides, it's kind of flattering anyway. Come on in." She stood aside to let him pass. She felt oddly happy for some reason she couldn't quite place her claw on. She would later realise that was the first time she became aware that anyone, excluding Kroqgar, found her attractive. She may have had a hard life but she was still only sixteen, and though she didn't know it the blushing stare did wonders for her self-esteem.

Closing the door after Naruto, she asked, "Can I get you anything?" and let her transformation drop.

She noticed that he immediately tried not to stare, though he clearly wanted to. "No, I just wanted to talk." His tone made it clear what about.

"Oh, okay... Do you want me to get Kroqgar as well?"

"Is he asleep?" Whisper replied with a nod. "Don't worry about it then."

"Alright then. And please, we want you to be comfortable around us. If you need to examine our appearance, please, go ahead." His body language revealed his gratitude, and she sat still for a moment, watching as his fascinated gaze slid from the open window on her right to an intense but unobtrusive scutiny of her face and form, paying particular attention to her muzzle, feet and hands.

When she felt that his gaze was wandering _too_ much (though reminding herself that this was Naruto and in all likelihood was entirely innocent, despite outside influ-sannin-ences), she recaptured his attention by saying, "So, what's on your mind?"

Focusing once more, Naruto replied, "I wanted to talk about everything you told me last night."

Whisper was relieved to note that he merely looked curious. "I thought as much."

"Firstly, the world you guys are from."

Whisper sat down on the couch and gestured for Naruto to sit across from her. "You know we can't tell you much about it."

As he sat down, Naruto shook his head, saying, "That's just it – I don't think I _want_ to know anything about it. It's a different world, with an entirely different... culture, technology, civilisation, ecosystem, everything! I don't think I could get it, so I'm just not thinking about it."

Silently Whisper was impressed, Naruto had really thought this through! How much sleep had the boy ended up getting? However outwardly she nodded, understanding his reasoning. "Fair enough, you don't really need to learn anything about it, so yeah, thinking about it will just give you a headache."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, her words echoing his thoughts. "Exactly. Now, how you guys look..."

Whisper tensed imperceptibly.

"...It really doesn't bother me. I mean, I have a giant talking fox inside of me already, another talking fox isn't too much of a stretch." Naruto pondered for a moment, recalling something. "Plus, you guys probably know about the two ninjas that attacked me and Pervy Sage when we were looking for Grandma Tsunade. One of them looked like a _fish_, he was blue and had gills and everything. No one seemed to notice it but it was _weird_. After that, you two aren't so strange at all. Your appearance doesn't change who you are inside anyway, and I think you guys look sorta cool."

Whisper gasped out, "Oh thank _God_..." as she sank further into her seat, a relieved smile evident. At Naruto's look of confusion, she decided the boy was owed the truth, or at least part of it. "Listen, Naruto... You know that me and Kroqgar pretty much know most everything there is to know about you, yeah?" The other genin nodded, though obviously he was still slightly uncomfortable about someone else having such intimate knowledge about him. "If there is one thing we do know about you, it is that your just a really good person. All the hardship you've had to live with, all the hate and pain you've had to endure, and you've still turned out as kind and brave as you are now. Your life has been hard. Shit, your life has been Hell." Naruto quirked a brow. Hearing the gentle, elder genin swear was odd. "We just want to be the friends you never had, we just want to be close to such a good person. And knowing that you accept us, even though you've had to struggle so hard for acceptance yourself..." Whisper struggled for words for a moment, before simply shaking her head, rising and walking over to the blonde jinchuuriki.

As she had been speaking, Naruto's look of confusion had steadily changed to one of mild embarassment at her praise, and finally to one of happiness at her acceptance of him. Now, as Whisper knelt beside him, all that showed was shock. As the older genin wrapped her arms around him, all he heard her say was "Thank you..." He was unsure of himself for a moment, never having been in a situation like this with someone so young without the imminent threat of being punched in the face, but hesitantly raised his arms to return the embrace. After a moment, he found that this felt much more natural than he had thought, and relaxed. He had been hugged by women before, Shizune, Grandma Tsunade, even Ayame, but this was the first time a girl so near his own age had _ever_ embraced him... And he was willing to admit it felt nice.

Whisper pulled back with a huge smile, quickly wiping at her face. She looked into his eyes, wanting him to fully appreciate how serious she was being. "Thank you for accepting us."

Naruto smiled softly, a slight tinge of colour on his cheeks. With as much sincerity as he could manage, he replied "No problem."

They both remained there, sharing a moment they didn't quite understand but that neither was willing to let go of. _Acceptance_. Whisper had Kroqgar. Naruto had precious little amounts from anyone, and he had always had to fight for it. Now there was one more person who knew everything about them, and accepted them. Whisper and Kroqgar had learned of Naruto's life from day one, and they had held nothing back when they spoke to him of their own lives. Here they were, completely exposed... and safe.

Taking her seat once more, Whisper (still smiling broadly) asked, "So was there anything else you wanted to know?"

Naruto breathed a sigh, his brow furrowing in thought. "Well, you guys know everything about my past... _Every_thing..."

"Actually," interjected Whisper, "We don't know everything, only the big things. Imagine if you wrote a book about someone's life, you wouldn't mention them going to the bathroom, or having breakfast, or whatever."

"Ok... Well then you guys know everything that's worth knowing about my life." He thought for a moment, before meeting her eyes and smiling. "And I think I'm okay with that. But there was one other thing that was bothering me..."

Whisper inhaled sharply. Here it was.

"These books, the ones about me..." It still felt weird to Naruto. His life had been a _story_... "What did they cover?"

Thinking quickly, Whisper tried to avert the younger shinobi from the truth. "Well, they started at your birth, of course they mention a few things here and there from before that. Bits and pieces of your childhood, mainly your career as a genin."

Though she had tried to speak casually, the look on Naruto's face betrayed his suspicion.

"How old am I when the stories end?"

She couldn't avoid it. "Well, when we came here, the story was still ongoing, so we never saw the end, but..." She decided to give him what he was obviously looking for, but to limit what she said. Sighing, she said, "It goes up to the point where you are at least fifteen."

Naruto slowly nodded, causing her to blink in mild surprise. She had been expecting some sort of huge outburst of disbelief, and for a kunai-wielding, half-naked Kroqgar to burst into the room (which, she realised, she had half been hoping for).

"So... You guys pretty much know the future, right?"

There it was, out in the open. They had avoided discussing it last night, and had in all honesty hoped that the younger genin wouldn't think of it. Nodding, she said, "Yes, I suppose we do. At least one version of it."

"So you should be able to stop everything bad from happening!" Naruto rose out of his chair in excitement, a huge smile blooming on his face.

However Whisper's calm response stopped him in his tracks. "Yes, but like I said before, only one version of anything bad." She explained that while they wanted to change everything for the better, there were risks inherent in even the slightest change, and so they had to be very careful about what they did. Naruto took it all in, at first expressing disbelief that they couldn't preemptively right wrongs, but finally understanding their decision.

"Well," he said, "I think I get it. I don't like it, but I see your point. I would do things differently, but I trust you two know what you are doing."

This gave Whisper pause. "Woah, woah, back up there. What would you do differently? You know we value your opinion Naruto", she smiled at him.

His confidence raised by her encouragement, Naruto replied, "Well, I would try to change every bad thing I could as they happened, and then sort of figure it out as I went after that. Things couldn't get too bad afterward, right?" He grinned when Whisper nodded at his idea, but it faded at her response.

"We thought of that too Naruto, but if we go around making too many changes, the future we know becomes uncertain. Things change too drastically. Then we lose our ability to change anything that is still a long way off."

Naruto scowled at first but nodded after a moment, seeing the reasoning. "So what do you plan to do?"

Grinning, Whisper replied, "In 10 words or less? We plan to make everything as good as we can."

The jinchuuriki found the simple, honest answer to be very amusing. "Now that's my kind of plan!", he laughed, Whisper joining him.

After their mirth died down, Naruto realized that he didn't have anything else to say. He looked at the vixen and smiled warmly, saying, "Y'know, that's everything. Thanks for explaining everything Whisper." Once again, the sincerity of his thanks was evident in his voice.

"No problem," she replied, as she rose from her seat. "Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

So conveniently that it caused Whisper to wonder if it was a nosebleed-and-face-planting-style anime law, Naruto's stomach growled. Looking at her with puppy dog eyes, he asked, "You don't have any ramen do you?"

With a laugh, Whisper started walking back to her bedroom. "Unfortunately no, but once I get dressed I'll bring you something even better!"

His jaw dropped. Better than _ramen_?

"Fruit!"

…

For the next few hours, as the sun truly rose, Whisper and Naruto sat and talked like old friends, sharing stories and ideas, reflecting on both of their lives. After a time Kroqgar rose and joined them, being taken to the side by Whisper at first and returning a few minutes later with a massive smile on his face, having been filled in on their earlier conversation (though at first Naruto admittedly thought he was smiling for an _entirely_ different reason). Even Naruto's stomach eventually relented, accepting the sacrilegious fruit. Finally, as 8 o'clock arrived, Naruto left with a wave to get what he called "Proper breakfast!", and Kroqgar and Whisper started getting ready for their day. A note that Kakashi had given Naruto instructed them to be at their team's training field at nine. A few minutes and a transformation jutsu later, the young couple headed towards the training fields, hands clasped.

…

The week passed in a blur for the pair, so busy were they. Between their new training, the development of their new weapons, adjusting to life in Konoha, meeting everyone new and most importantly each other, they barely had a moment of peace. They couldn't be happier.

Now they stood side-by-side on Training Ground Three, ready for the challenge before them. Along the sideline stood the entire Rookie Nine (with the notable exception of Sasuke) along with Team Guy, and their senseis. Kroqgar and Whisper had gone out of their way to meet and try to get to know each of them, no easy feat. Yet they had succeeded in their quest, and could now speak to each of them on friendly terms, albeit barely in some cases. Their presence was at Whisper's insistence; she and Kroqgar had agreed that it could only be beneficial to the time-line if all of the Konoha genin were closer to each other, and saw this demonstration as a brilliant way to accomplish that. They had told the Hokage as much, and seeing the wisdom of the plan, Tsunade had agreed immediately.

The sannin herself was standing before Konoha's newest shinobi, Shizune, Kurenai and Kakashi beside her. Jiraiya was sitting high in a tree smoking a pipe and finally two civilians topped off the gathering, standing off to the side and recognised by few. Several others had caught wind of the event, namely some of Kakashi's old ANBU friends and those with close ties to the two civilians, but on Tsunade's orders this was to be a private demonstration.

The Hokage stepped forward. "For those of you that don't know why you are here, today we are going to see a demonstration of some new weaponry." Reactions among the genin ranged from rapt, drooling attention to complete and utter indifference. The latter caused Tsunade to grit her teeth. "WAKE UP SHIKAMARU!" The lazy Nara sat up straight, yelling something about shogi fouls. "As I was saying, today our newest genin, Kroqgar and Whisper..." She indicated the two ninjas, who smiled weakly and waved, somewhat unused to being in the spotlight like this. "...Are going to demonstrate to you first their abilities as shinobi, and secondly their proficiency with their chosen weapons, which, to the best of our knowledge, have never before been used."

Ino spoke up, feeling more comfortable around the Hokage than the rest of them after she had talked with the older woman at The Iron Kimono yesterday. "Lady Tsunade, why do we need to see this?"

"The main reason is that we have decided that from now on, your genin teams will be working more closely, to promote teamwork and to allow you all to further your training. At the Chunin Exams, you were each given the opportunity to observe the abilities of your peers, so you know, roughly, where you stand. However Kroqgar and Whisper's abilities are unknown to you, with the exception of their team-mates, and even they haven't fully seen what they are capable of. Do you all remember the earthquake on Mount Toukai?" Several heads nodded. "That wasn't an earthquake, it was caused by these two!" Following Tsunade's pointing finger, the assembled genin all stared wide-eyed at Kroqgar and Whisper, their sensei's giving them appraising looks.

"So the purpose of today's training exercise is to show you all just what your newest team-mates can do, and to give you a taste of some of the things to come. But first, we've got to give them their weapons! Kaji, Hotaru, come out here!"

The two artists, masters of their craft, stepped onto the field, each holding a flat wooden box under their arm. Each was smiling broadly, thoroughly unnerving Kakashi and Kurenai. Apparently this was going to be quite a surprise.

The weaponsmith approached Kroqgar, while the tailor approached Whisper. Everyone expected some sort of speech, however with all the time they had all spent together creating the armaments, there was really nothing left to say. The two genin showed their appreciation by bowing a final time to each of the specialists, embarrassing them slightly.

Just as Kaji and Hotaru lifted the lids of the two boxes, an incredibly loud and hilariously familiar voice boomed out of them. "LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THIS TRIUMPH COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED WITHOUT THE WISE AND LEARNED HELP OF THE GREAT TOAD SAGE JIRAIYA!"

As one, the assembled Konohans face-planted, legs twitching in complete disbelief. Only Tsunade herself stood standing, gritting her teeth and glaring murderously at the spot she had last seen Jiraiya. Her last glimpse had been of him performing a hand-sign and disappearing on the spot, obviously using his damn peeping technique, the Transparency Jutsu. Even she wouldn't be able to find him now, the only sign of his presence his lingering laugh.

As everyone recovered, they got their first glimpse of the contents of each box.

The box in Kaji's hands was lined with white cloth, the better to present the item within. All the master crafters of the village had boxes like it, re-used for presentation ceremonies for important clients. The occasion didn't particularly call for the lavish container, but the items it held certainly did. Sitting proudly in the middle of the box, the white surroundings a stark contrast to their own colouring, was a pair of black wristbands.

Though at first somewhat of a disappointment to the assembled shinobi, the longer they observed the revealed wristbands the more they admired them. They were made of a silken material that seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it, and almost seemed alive, shifting as Kroqgar reached in and reverently grasped one of them. As the large shinobi raised them from the box, everyone finally saw what exactly the offensive part of them was.

Picked out in bone-white cloth circling each wristband was a seal. As Kroqgar slipped off his own wristbands and replaced them with what were so much more than just higher quality replicas, the assembled jounin quietly told those students that were ignorant of the purpose of the seal. As best as they could each guess, it was a customised containment seal.

After he had stored his old bracers inside an inner pocket, Kroqgar raised both his arms before him, observing the small, dark bands on his wrists. They felt completely and inexplicably perfect, as if they had been made for him. Which made sense, because they had been. He slowly clenched his fists, feeling the power stored inside each wristband. Smiling, he turned to face his sensei. As he caught Kakashi's eye, he saw (barely) that the older man was grinning widely. Ohhh, this was gonna be good.

Then it was Whisper's turn.

A smirking Hotaru stepped forward, the ex-jounin revealing the contents of the box in her hands. Inside, nestled on a magnificently accompanying bed of black silk, were a pair of simple, fingerless gloves. They were coloured an identical dark purple to the rest of Whisper's outfit (though, similar to Kroqgar's bracers, made of a clearly more high-quality material). The kunoichi slipped off her own gloves, taking care with the armour plating on the right one, and replaced them with her new ones, putting the old pair in the box for now.

Over time they had come to the conclusion that due to Whisper's incredible speed, having armour plating would simply slow her down and get in her way, so the design for this new pair was born. Aside from their craftsmanship however, there was really nothing special about them. Only seven of those assembled knew just what their capabilities were. The rest, including the jounin, hadn't a clue.

Satisfied at seeing Kroqgar and Whisper already completely at ease with these new changes, Tsunade turned to Kakashi and Kurenai. She was surprised to see the Copy Ninja lower his forehead protector, and suppressed a grin. With his Sharingan he might have picked out a few more details and made some additional conclusions, but even he wouldn't figure out the whole story until it was too late.

"All right!" said Tsunade as she clapped her hands. "Who wants to go first?" Kaji and Hotaru hastily left the field.

"Hold on Grandma Tsunade, what about these new weapons we are 'sposed to see!" yelled out Naruto, glaring daggers at the Hokage.

"If you don't keep quiet you brat you will see a kunai much closer than you ever wanted to! This isn't just about their new weapons, Kroqgar and Whisper have been developing other skills they can show as well. And if they are clever about it, they might barely need to use their weapons at all! Now..." She turned back towards the shinobi before her. "As I was saying... Who wants to go first?"

Whisper stepped forward, her eyes gleaming emerald fire. "I do Lady Hokage. I honestly don't think I could wait any longer if I tried."

The older kunoichi actually laughed out loud at that. "I can understand that, believe it or not Whisper. Kakashi, Kroqgar, head to the sideline. And you Shizune. You two", she said, indicating Whisper and Kurenai, "better get ready for a good workout. I'll personally be refereeing this match. Kurenai?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage?" replied the Genjutsu Mistress, completely focused on the upcoming battle.

Tsunade looked like she meant to say something, but thought better of it. She let loose a chuckle, finally saying "Be on your guard."

Sensei and student faced each other and bowed, grinning. Tsunade looked at each in turn, before nodding and raising her hand in the air. Swiftly, she brought it down and jumped back. "GO!"

Whisper exploded into motion, flinging shuriken at Kurenai as the genin leapt backwards, opening up a massive gap between the two. Instantly realising that her pupil was planning something, the Genjutsu Mistress sprinted forwards, slipping past the shuriken and aiming for Whisper.

But she simply couldn't keep up with the girl at this level. As Kurenai raced toward her, Whisper steepled her fingers, yelling, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" In an instant three doppelgangers stood beside her. Grinning for a moment, Whisper decided to show off one of her new tricks.

…

_After a harsh day of special training with Might Guy and Rock Lee, Kroqgar and Whisper were both excited to say that they could now partially open the first chakra gate. Guy had said to them that even though fully opening a gate was much, much harder than doing so partially, their progress had been nothing short of phenomenal. With a hearty laugh, he had said "It's almost like you two know how they work better than I do!"_

_Laughing uncomfortably at his surprisingly accurate joke, the two had said their thank-yous and their goodbyes before heading off to a meeting with Jiraiya. Finding the Toad Sage (surprisingly) sitting by a calm pond and meditating, they had sat with him._

"_So what's up, Jiraiya-sensei?" Kroqgar said, hand entwined with Whisper's._

_Smiling broadly, and managing the impressive feat of appearing to strut whilst sitting down, the sannin smugly replied, "After hours and hours of tireless, selfless work, I, Jiraiya of the Sannin, The Toad Sage, have finally discovered what makes you each so strong," he said, pointing at Kroqgar before turning to Whisper, "and fast."_

_Realising that this was an enigma that neither of them had so far given much thought to, the genin found that they were quite curious. "What is it? What did you find?"_

_With an incredibly satisfied expression on his face, Jiraiya responded with one word. "Ki."_

_The sannin explained that it seemed their body maintained a steady flow of ki to their muscles at all times, regardless of their conscious mind. It didn't drain their ki over time, and since they had arrived in Konoha with those abilities already active there was no way of knowing whether it weakened them. He said that, obviously, Whisper's ki focused on her speed, keeping her muscles strong but compact, whereas Kroqgar's opted for a much bulkier, heavy-duty approach. What the sage explained next though was what really got their attention._

"_Given proper training, I can't see any reason why you two couldn't stop the ki from circulating in your system, potentially giving you more to draw on, or you could enhance it with your current reserves, making you stronger, faster, more powerful."_

_Kroqgar and Whisper looked at each other for a moment, before smiling knowingly and nodding. Kroqgar turned towards the white-haired man and said, "Jiraiya-sensei, let me tell you about a technique we know called the 'Kaio-ken'..."_

…

Taking a quick breath to steady herself, Whisper mentally ordered each of her clones to open the first chakra gate slightly, partially removing the restraints of the brain on their muscles. Each clone then flowed ki into their bodies in one sharp burst, temporarily boosting their speed dramatically. The result was a pink-haired blur so fast that only those of jounin rank or higher caught it. In a fraction of an instant, each Whisper was right next to Kurenai, surrounding her. With a collective shout, they all began their attack.

The downside to their new technique, that Kroqgar had affectionately dubbed the "Gate-o-ken", was that it could only be used in brief bursts, and even then it was to be used very sparingly. Both Whisper and Kroqgar knew the dangers of straining either their chakra gates or their ki circulation.

Kurenai was at an immediate disadvantage. The speed at which Whisper and her clones had moved surprised her just barely enough for them to get inside her guard. Now she was frantically warding off high-speed blows from every direction, taking a few hits in the process. And for all her speed she wouldn't exactly call the girl weak.

By now each of the assembled genin, even Shikamaru, were on their feet, watching the match in awe. Neji and Hinata had been bombarded with questions, but even they had sheepishly admitted that Whisper had moved too fast for their Byakuugans. The knowledge that Kroqgar and Whisper used ki had trickled through the genin teams by now, and each jounin sensei was quietly explaining to their team what exactly Whisper had done by combining the two techniques, none more proudly than Guy. Kroqgar himself was standing tall on the sideline, watching the match with a big grin on his face. _"You ain't seen nothin' yet."_

Though Whisper had the drop on Kurenai, they had fought this way before. Slowly the jounin gained ground, steadily besting Whisper (though not yet managing to dispel the clones). A fierce grin crossed Whisper's face as she decided to take it up a step.

The flurry of fists and feet surrounding Kurenai suddenly sped up, almost like the genin was changing gear. There was a collective gasp from the audience at her speed, and even Kurenai arched an eyebrow in surprise, though it was nothing she couldn't compensate for. However just as she went to deflect a blow to her midsection, a sharp blow to her ribs stunned her just barely long enough for the strike to connect. Ignoring the pain, she kept on fighting, but again she blocked a blow only to be struck by an invisible force directly behind where she had blocked. Over and over, blow after blow she seemed to block only to feel the force hit her a second later. Watching closely, she stopped a punch to her gut in the flat of her hand, and immediately felt something hit her in the stomach like a sledgehammer. She couldn't endure this forever, what was going on?

The answer came a moment later, when one of the clones happened to over-extend itself on a striker, and come too close to her head (it was a mark of how harried she was that she didn't take advantage of the slip up). In the instant that its lips were close to her ear, she heard one whispered word.

"_Kabe."_

Awake to the game now, the Genjutsu Mistress realised that each Whisper was constantly murmuring the word under their breath, every time they launched a strike. The punches and kicks were just a ruse to distract her from Whisper's constant use of her Windwall Jutsu, the invisible force constantly striking her. She was impressed that the girls clones were strong enough to continually maintain the offensive. Now that she knew what was going on however, the jounin could plan her counterattack.

Taking a few hits in the process (including one worrying _crack_ to the back of the head), Kurenai lashed out violently at what she now knew were the weakened clones, managing to plow right through them one by one. Swiftly turning on the spot, she launched herself at Whisper, for once outpacing the momentarily stunned girl (_"Must be the backlash from the clones"_, she thought.) and attacking her with a flurry of high level taijutsu, leaving the genin to frantically backpedal, desperately trying to open some space. Kurenai let her do just that.

Letting Whisper take a half-step backwards, she began flying through handseals. Whisper had no time at all to try and stop her, and instead braced herself for a point blank strike, ready to try and evade.

And found herself a moment later tied to a tree.

Bafflement etched its way across her face. Everyone was still along the sidelines, the same as they had been a moment before, yet Kurenai was nowhere to be seen, and this tree had come out... of nowhere...

Mentally berating herself, Whisper realised that she was stuck in one of Kurenai's genjutsu, the same one she had used on Itachi when he had infiltrated the village with Kisame after Naruto. She had a surprise in store for Kurenai though. Kroqgar and her hadn't yet learned how to halt the flow of ki through their bodies, but they had certainly learned how to boost it.

For an instant she flared her ki, her clothing and hair billowing out. The genjutsu holding her shattered. She sprung forward and turned in the air, facing a surprised looking Kurenai.

The jounin stood for a moment. "Ok, I'm impressed. How did you manage to break that genjutsu so easily?"

Whisper grinned in response. "Most genjutsus, since they act purely as illusions and therefore have no physical substance, are largely unaffected by the physical side of chakra. The spiritual half of it is what has all the effect. That's is why it takes so much raw chakra to break most genjutsus, only half of it is really working. And the spiritual side of chakra is...?"

Kurenai sighed. "Ki..."

"Bingo!" responded Whisper, a wide smile on her face. She summoned a yellow ball of ki in her hand as she spoke, holding it before her. "Since Kroqgar and I have such easy access to so much ki, more than twice as powerful as chakra in breaking genjutsu, they don't really bother us. That's not to say that ki doesn't have its physical uses as well!" She finished with a shout, throwing the sphere at Kurenai as hard as she could.

The small energy-blast moved fast, incredibly fast, but Kurenai was still capable of dodging it. Knowing her student like she did she was easily able to slip into a defensive stance as she saw Whisper almost on top of her, following in her attack's wake. What she did not expect, however, was for Whisper to grin and disappear.

The genin, taking a leaf out of Kroqgar's book, had substituted herself with the ki sphere, something Whisper knew only a ki user would be able to do. In a puff of smoke, she appeared right behind Kurenai, and the ki sphere charged out of the smoke in front of her. The jounin felt a ki-enhanced kick strike her in her lower back, propelling her forwards and directly into the ki sphere. Thankfully the thing was fast but not very strong. It exploded against her midsection, knocking her to the ground and slightly burning her stomach. Leaping to her feet almost immediately, the Genjutsu Mistress was not given a second of reprieve as she felt herself bombarded on all sides once more by Whisper and some fresh shadow clones. Feeling a Windwall strike to her ribs, she set about planning her next move.

…

Kakashi, his book long since stored, happened to notice Asuma watching the fight with what one could call a hint more than friendly concern. Chuckling at the drama taking place within his own ranks, the Copy Ninja turned his attention to his students.

"Sakura, Naruto, what do you two think so far?"

Naruto, in his typical simple fashion, summed up what most of the genin were thinking. "She's so _fast_..." Sakura dumbly nodded in slack-jawed agreement for a moment before realising that a better answer was expected.

"Whisper's technique is pretty fantastic. She just moves so quickly, and using the Windwall jutsu like that to throw Kurenai-sensei off her guard was genius." The two genin had already seen Kroqgar use the pair's original jutsu in training, so already knew how it worked. "Add to that the fact that genjutsu is essentially useless against Whisper and that she hasn't really used many ki-based abilities so far and I think that Kurenai-sensei might be in trouble."

Kakashi nodded, pleased with her analysis, before turning to his last student. The two had gotten along well in the previous week and he was curious to see what Kroqgar's take on the action was. He nudged the larger shinobi with his elbow to get his attention. "What do you think so far?"

Kroqgar's head tilted slightly, and Kakashi could almost see the ears on top of his head quirk. "I'd say that right now, Whisper definitely has the advantage. Plus she's still a relative unknown, especially so considering her new gloves." He flashed a smile. "She's wearing herself down much faster than Kurenai-sensei, but she must know it. She's got a plan. I'd say this fight is Whisper's."

Kakashi was about to add something, before a flash of light caught his attention.

…

"_Figures"_, thought Kurenai. Just when you've got it figured out, the game changes. She and the four Whispers had traded blows for a few moments, before the jounin had pieced together a strategy. Just as she was about to spring into action, Whisper surprised her again.

With a grunt of exertion, each Whisper suddenly ramped up its speed once more, all moving just that bit faster than at first. By now not only was Kurenai sure that Whisper was constantly streaming extra ki into her system, she could barely hold the girl at bay. Blows came from everywhere at once, some enhanced by Windwall strikes, others not. The seemingly random flurry was putting her off, and more and more she was getting winged by Whisper's strikes. A foot beside her face, dodge. An elbow to her chest, block. A kick to her leg... too fast. Hoping to even the playing field, Kurenai opened her own chakra gate, but as she did so she felt Whisper speed up even more, evidently mimicking her action.

The genin in the audience were standing slack jawed, watching the exchange before them. All they could see was Kurenai amidst a blurred mass of fists and legs now, the only evidence of Whisper's presence. As the glow of ki started to emerge, at least one jounin and more than a few genin were heard saying "Wow..."

Kurenai was now getting desperate. Whisper was pushing herself to her limit, if the strained look on her face was anything to go by, and not only had she increased her speed even more (just _barely_ enough to seriously press Kurenai), each of the clones and the original were now all fighting with ki spheres appearing periodically in their hands. Whenever they went for a closed-fist strike, she felt a miniature windwall hit her, something she still had no defense against. Now however, they were interspersing them with sweeps of her open hands, the golden glow in each throwing all of them into deep shadow over and over. Kurenai knew that Whisper was trying to land what the girl called an "energy slap", by slapping her with her open palm as she was holding a ki sphere. Now the girl was moving too fast for her to differentiate between windwall strikes and energy slaps in time, so she was just trying to dodge everything. She twisted and turned, ducked and leaped, all to avoid getting struck. Windwalls blasted past her. Ki singed her over and over.

Letting out a yell of pain, Whisper blasted into her full speed for a fraction of a second. Her body briefly glowed a soft shade of red and each clone immediately dispelled from the action, but the original was now just too fast. She blitzed Kurenai, striking her over and over and over. For a split second, Kurenai was completely overwhelmed.

Drawing back for a final strike, Whisper slammed her fist into Kurenai's chest, directly over her heart. The jounin did not notice the smile of triumph cross Whisper's face. Absorbing the full force of the blow (and oddly feeling a sharp pinch), Kurenai flew backwards, before flipping and landing on her feet with her guard up.

Immediately she saw Whisper hunched over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. The genin was not as spent as she was after the first time they had fought, but she was not too far off. As Whisper stood up straight once more, Kurenai smiled at her.

"I must say Whisper, you constantly surprise me. I had no idea you could move that fast. I'm not even sure _sannin_ could move that fast (Tsunade went to say something but stopped at a look from Shizune.). But, while you had me almost completely overwhelmed, you didn't really do to much lasting damage. I've got a few cuts and bruises, but considering the energy you just put out I should be much more damaged. I think it's my turn now."

Just as she was about to leap forward, Tsunade's voice reached her. "Actually, Kurenai, I'm afraid the match is already over." Both combatants turned to see the Hokage striding onto the field, wearing an amused expression.

"Over?" Kurenai looked confused. "But there is no clear winner yet, Lady Hokage."

Tsunade grinned broadly. "I hate to correct you Kurenai, but there is." She threw an arm around Whisper's shoulders, the genin smiling widely. "And she's standing right here."

Curious but respectful, Kurenai asked "How do you judge her to be the winner Lady Hokage?" In answer, the older woman just pointed. Following her finger, Kurenai looked down at herself, and noticed that she was bleeding from a small cut on her chest. Lifting her collar slightly, she looked under her clothing and saw three scratches in a line directly over her heart.

"But that was just from her last strike. Or are her new gloves poisoned in some way?" She eyed Whisper's hands somewhat apprehensively.

Tsunade waved her concerns off with a laugh. "Don't worry about it Kurenai, your not in any danger, you just didn't see. Come over to your audience, I'll explain it all at once."

They walked over towards the assembled shinobi (plus two civilians), Whisper making a slight detour to Kroqgar. Surprising her, her picked her up in his arms and kissed her, in full view of everyone. She was somewhat embarrassed; they had never done anything like that so publicly (she would later reflect that it was hilarious that both Naruto and Kiba said "WHOOOO!"). But she quickly regained her composure, and smiled warmly at him.

"You were awesome," he breathed in her ear. "Most of the time I could barely see you."

Smiling broadly at her boyfriend's praise (it still felt _ridiculously_ good to call him that), she rejoined Kurenai and Tsunade. The latter was answering any questions the genin had about the match, including those the jounin wanted to know but were too embarrassed to ask. Finally, she turned to Kurenai and Whisper.

"Now, I bet that you'd all like to know how exactly the match ended, particularly you Kurenai." Even with Tsunade's luck, she wasn't going to lose that one. "You all saw that Whisper was pressing Kurenai pretty badly with the combination of her speed, her jutsu and her ki abilities. What you might not have seen was the very ending. For a brief moment, Whisper pushed herself to what I think is almost her maximum speed, an action which dispelled her clones. From what I was able to see, she completely overwhelmed Kurenai's guard, and was able to completely outmatch her sensei."

Kurenai smiled, somewhat embarrassed.

"The reason I judged her to be the winner however, was due to her final action. Her last attack was to punch Kurenai right here, on her heart. Normally, a blow like that wouldn't be enough, but in this case there's more to it. Whisper?"

Whisper stepped forward, smiling broadly. "Right before I struck Kurenai-sensei, I used my weapons very slightly for the first time." She held her fist before them all, to let them all see. "Just as I was about to come into contact, I did _this_." From out of nowhere, in the spaces on the glove between her knuckles, three small claws slid out, drawing a gasp from most present.

"But where do they come from?" asked Hinata quietly, raising her gaze to her teammate's face.

Whisper smiled back encouragingly. "Special storage seals, hidden in the stitching between the knuckles." She gestured at a smiling Hotaru. "You can thank Konoha's finest seamstress for that!" The ex-jounin curtsied jokingly.

By now, most jounin had an inkling of what was going on, but they left it to the genin to figure out. "That is a very clever attack Whisper", said Rock Lee, inwardly envious of her speed. He knew that generally he was faster than her, and his peak speed was higher than hers, but the ease with which she could alter her speed was enviable. "But I do not see how that would cause Lady Hokage to name you the winner."

Konoha's resident genius came to the rescue, his curiosity piqued by the intriguing puzzle before him. "How far out do those claws come?" asked Shikamaru.

Smiling broadly, Whisper extended her claws to their maximum length with a brief pulse of chakra. Without a sound, the three curved, metal blades swiftly extended to just under the length of her forearm. There was a moment of stunned silence before Kiba whistled softly. "I wish _my_ claws were that cool." The assenting bark from Akamaru drew a laugh from everyone present.

"Now you see why I called Whisper as the winner," said Tsunade, stepping forward once more. "Simply to prove her point, she barely scratched Kurenai. However, if she had extended her claws to their full extent..." She let the sentence hang as most of the genin shuddered.

"In any case," continued the sannin, turning to face Kurenai. She looked at her seriously for a moment before laughing. "I told you to be on your guard." She didn't say anything about truly meaning the sentiment, not wanting anyone there to know she had just lost her bet on the first match to Jiraiya.

…

After a short break, Tsunade called the next two combatants to the field. Kakashi walked forward steadily, as calm as always, but Kroqgar was smiling from ear to ear, bouncing on the toes of his boots and cracking his neck in anticipation. When the two turned to face each other, Kakashi arched an eyebrow at his student's exuberance.

Raising his headband to bare his Sharingan, Kakashi said, "You seem in particularly high spirits. Anything I should be worried about?"

Kroqgar laughed. "You have no idea."

Tsunade stepped forward. "Both sides ready?" Both nodded. "Then... GO!"

Clenching his teeth briefly, Kroqgar brought his fist back, before flinging it forwards, firing a blast of ki at the ground before Kakashi. As soon as the thing exploded, Kroqgar burst into motion, summoning a shadow clone as he sprinted around the resulting dust cloud. He sent the clone in for a head-on attack, before bursting in from the side himself.

…

Asuma Sarutobi shook his head, before lighting a cigarette. "Kid's a goner."

His students looked to him. Ino asked, "What makes you say that sensei?" Kaji and Hotaru listened in, curious. Asuma noticed their attention.

Raising his voice slightly, the bearded jounin replied, "For all his strength, he's at a disadvantage. Kakashi has the Sharingan, so he's always going to be tough to beat in a straight-out taijutsu brawl. But the second Kroqgar stepped in there with him..." He gestured at the cloud of dust. "Now Kroqgar's pretty much working blind. And Kakashi is still at full strength. This match is already over."

As if to emphasise Asuma's point, a dull _thud_ and a grunt of pain were heard from within the dust, before a body came tumbling out of it. Landing on its feet, the tall lanky frame sighed tiredly before brushing itself down.

"So..." said Kakashi, watching as a smiling Kroqgar walked out of the dust. "You can detect ki signiatures. That's new."

…

The jounin sprang forwards, determined to take the offensive. Quickly forming hand seals, Kakashi launched a fireball at Kroqgar. As the genin leapt aside, Kakashi was upon him with a kunai. With a metallic _clang_, Kroqgar blocked it with his own. The two struggled for a moment, before breaking off and having at each other.

Now Kroqgar realised how much danger he was in. With taijutsu he was confident he could hold his own against the much more experienced ninja, if only because of his strength, but he knew that Kakashi was far more skilled with a blade.

"_At least..._" he thought, mentally grinning, "_This type of blade..._"

Suddenly Kroqgar was all fumbles and stumbles, barely holding Kakashi off. The older shinobi, seeing his advantage, pressed the attack. As Kroqgar was pushed back, and back, the genin on the sidelines gasped. Was it going to be over so quickly? Even Whisper looked concerned.

Suddenly, Kroqgar's boot caught in the dirt, and he fell backward, catching himself on one hand. With one sharp swipe, Kakashi struck the kunai from his hand, sending it out of reach. Raising his blade to administer the final, harmless strike to Kroqgar's neck and win the spar, Kakashi paid no attention to Kroqgar's raised hand, futilely trying to ward off the blow.

As he brought his kunai down, a long cloud of smoke exploded into being in its path, and Kakashi struck metal. No fool, the Copy Ninja immediately jumped backwards to reassess.

Kroqgar was rising from the ground, and clutched in his hand was one of the most formidable weapons Kakashi had ever seen. A backwards-curving blade extended for well over a metre from both the front and back of the hilt, which had a small shield protecting it from the outside. The shield itself tapered to a point on one end and was spiked on the other. Kroqgar raised his other hand, and Kakashi's Sharingan detected a pulse of chakra in to the bracer on his wrist before another of the weapons appeared, clearly summoned from the wristband. Both of the weapons were coloured solid black, and trimmed in brilliant white. Kakashi blinked, picturing Kroqgar in his true form. Solid black fur, white fangs and claws, black and white clothing and weaponry. An imposing sight.

"So, Kakashi-sensei..." said Kroqgar, performing a complicated flourish with the two weapons, twirling them around his sides and over his head. He smiled broadly, saying, "How do you like my new glaives?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment as he watched Kroqgar perform the same maneouvre in reverse. "Glaives, huh? I must say, they look very fierce. How skilled are you with them?"

A moment later, Kakashi would curse his foolishness. From directly behind him, he heard a disembodied voice say "_Let's find out shall we..._"

The jounin exploded into motion, jumping high and twisting, avoiding the strike from behind. He had completely forgotten about Kroqgar's shadow clone, and that mistake had almost cost him his head. He backed up from the genin, his mind working frantically to try and think of a way around his weapons.

Kroqgar gave him no such reprieve. The younger shinobi went on the warpath, both him and his clone closing with Kakashi. They attacked mercilessly, brutally, forcing Kakashi back further and further. The jounin didn't know the full powers of the weapon yet, but he knew Kroqgar's strength. He had seen the boy completely unload on a giant tree mere days before, and knew that if he tried to stop a blow with that kind if power behind it with his kunai he'd be sliced in two.

Kroqgar managed to distract him for a split second when he tossed one of his glaives up into the air, its blades catching the light as they spun over and over. There was something about it... Something was off. The weapon had a chakra flow. It was fading but it was there, and for a fraction of an instant Kakashi couldn't tear his eye away from it.

A moment later, Kakashi awoke to the realisation that he had been asleep. Leaping to his feet, the jounin saw Kroqgar and his clone standing a good twenty feet away, shoulder to shoulder and massive. A glance behind him revealed the shattered remains of what looked to have been quite a sturdy tree. The tenderness on the left side of his face cemented his theory of what had happened.

…

_(A moment ago)_

Everyone in attendance, save the two combatants in the ring, winced and gasped as they saw Kroqgar land a murderous right hook to Kakashi's face, sending the older shinobi flying into a tree.

…

The Copy Ninja blinked slowly. "Ow."

Kroqgar merely smiled in return. The two stared each other down for a moment, the battlefield dead silent.

Kakashi frowned. "_Almost dead silent._" There was something, somewhere... Kakashi didn't know if it was the blow to the head, but he knew he was forgetting something, something important.

A moment later, his eye widened.

Diving into a roll, the jounin leaped forward, barely dodging the massive blade that implanted itself into the earth where he had been standing. That was it, that was what was off! Kroqgar had thrown the thing up but a moment ago, and the crafty genin had predicted exactly where Kakashi would be standing. A week ago the boy wouldn't have been able to do that, he was improving in leaps and bounds!

Raising his head, Kakashi saw the sole of a boot heading straight for it. Sighing at the necessity, he lowered his front leg straight and dipped into a split, the only way to avoid Kroqgar's strike. Even in his focused state of mind he was able to detect the hisses of sympathetic pain from some of the male genin.

A glint of white caught the light in front of him. His Sharingan spun for a moment, before he lowered himself even further, pressing his forehead protector to the knee in front of him. Even so, Kakashi felt a few of the longer hairs on his head trimmed as Kroqgar's weapon followed in the shinobi's wake.

Deciding to reassess, the Copy Ninja sunk quickly into the ground. Kroqgar looked up just in time to see Kakashi's newly shorn head of silver hair disappear, after the genin landed on the side of the weapon he had embedded in the ground (a move of Zabuza's he couldn't resist copying). He raised his other hand and immediately caught the weapon that was following him, feeling the centered hilt smack into his palm. With a thought, he dismissed his two weapons, after using the grounded one as a platform to leap into the air.

At the height of his jump Kroqgar brought his cocked fist behind him and channeled ki into it, before yelling as loud as he could, "NOT GOOD ENOUGH SENSEI!", and plummeting to the earth, shattering the ground around him. A spiderweb of cracks appeared along the training field as massive chunks of stone and earth were thrown about, Kroqgar's eyes constantly searching for the jounin's presence. The spectators looked ready to move as the fissures in the ground expanded toward them, but just as they reached the sidelines, Tsunade stomped her foot and stopped them cold, a small smirk on her face.

Kroqgar resummoned both his weapons, and locked on to Kakashi's ki signiature. With a grunt of exertion, he tossed both glaives in that direction, both spinning swiftly end over end. Several of the watching shinobi raised curious eyebrows as they saw that the trajectory of his weapons seemed to be off, both spinning out from Kroqgar in a "V" shape, each getting further away from its twin as they spun.

With a smile, Kroqgar clenched both his fists in front of him, still in the position he had held after he threw his glaives. He suddenly flicked both of his arms as if using a whip, and brought his forearms into an "X" in front of him. Ahead of him, his glaives both spun about in a graceful arc, curving back in to intersect each other.

...

On the sidelines, both Neji and Hinata gasped. After seeing the astounding maneuver on the battlefield, many genin turned to the Byakuugan users for explanation.

Neji responded, bafflement clear in the Hyuuga prodigy's voice. "Kroqgar's connected to his weapons by a cable of chakra! He's using it to control them!"

"It's based off the Puppet Master Jutsu."

All heads turned at this interruption. Tsunade didn't turn, her brown eyes still calmly fixed on the battle.

"A chakra thread is used to connect the user to the tool, in this case a glaive instead of a puppet. Kroqgar's version is actually somewhat stronger than the Puppet Master Jutsu, but is nowhere near as precise."

…

Kakashi burst from a crack in the ground, directly into the path of the two spinning glaives. Raising his arms on either side of him, the elite jounin proved his mettle by unerringly catching both glaives in mid-flight, before either could so much as nick him.

Kroqgar, his raised arms still crossed in front of him, grinned savagely, looking far more wolf than human.

"**PERFECT!"**

Straightening his arms once more, he flicked his chakra cables, before pulling them taut. Due to his Sharingan, Kakashi was able to detect the chakra cables leading from the weapons, so had an idea of what Kroqgar was up to. The genin wanted to fling Kakashi, still holding onto the glaives, over his shoulder and into the ground. Somewhat cautious over how simple his student's attack was to evade, Kakashi made to let go of the glaives.

And found that he couldn't.

His eye widened in shock as the mind that had kept him alive through a Shinobi World War almost immediately analyzed the available data and reached a conclusion. The weapons having a chakra flow, the strength of Kroqgar's chakra cables, the adhesive properties of chakra... Somehow, through his chakra cables, the genin was capable of exerting his chakra through his glaives as if they were his skin, in effect binding them to Kakashi.

The jounin reached the conclusion that he didn't have the time to think of a way around it right now. So he did the next best thing, and anchored himself to the earth with chakra. Kroqgar could pull all he wanted, but Kakashi was not going to be dislodged from the ground.

The one thing the Copy Ninja discounted was Kroqgar's monstrous strength. If he had factored that in, he might have realized the ground wasn't as secure as he thought it was.

With a rush of ki and a roar that made the air vibrate, Kroqgar tore Kakashi from the ground, a small amount of dirt and rock still clinging to the jounin's feet, and flung the jounin high in the air.

Kakashi narrowed his eye, waiting. _"Wait for it..." _His shadow was moving rapidly across the ground, heading towards Kroqgar. _"Wait for it..."_ The second his shadow moved across his student's face, the jounin moved. _"NOW!"_

With several quick, sharp movements and bursts of chakra, Kakashi kicked the assortment of large rocks that he had kept attached to his feet at Kroqgar, one by one. His Sharingan eye whirled as it tracked their movement. The Copy Ninja had never done something like this before, and was curious about his aim. A moment later he realised he had nothing to worry about.

The first rock struck Kroqgar in the stomach, bending the younger shinobi over slightly as all the air rushed out of his body. A split second later another stone impacted on his shoulder, heavily bruising him and rocking him back a step. The genin made the inexperienced mistake of raising his head to look at Kakashi. A third rock laid a thunderous blow across his jaw.

Kakashi was nowhere near done. Remembering a trick he had used in the last war against a Puppet Master from the Hidden Stone Village, he improvised.

"Lightning Style: Dual Puppet Surge!"

Immediately his hands started glowing electric blue. In an instant, the lightning chakra surged out of his hands and into the _highly conductive_ metal, before flowing down Kroqgar's chakra cables and into the stunned shinobi himself. The genin immediately tensed up, all his muscles being strung taught by the flow of Kakashi's jutsu.

Not good enough.

Furrowing his brow, Kakashi increased the flow of his chakra, overwhelming his student. Despite being almost immobile Kroqgar opened his jaw wide and released a roar of agony. _"Come on Kroqgar, how long do you want to make me do this!"_ The jounin didn't like hurting his comrade's like this, but he knew that the ball was now in Kroqgar's court.

His Sharingan caught the shadow of Kroqgar clone swiftly approaching him from behind. With a brief twist and a burst of chakra the last (and only lethally sharp) stone left attached to Kakashi's feet pierced the clone straight through it's non-existent heart, dispelling it instantaneously.

Suddenly Kakashi's hands were free and an explosion rocked the ground beneath him, Kroqgar's barely seen form twisting through the air away from it. It seemed Kroqgar had retracted his glaives just a moment too late. The buildup of lightning chakra had reached a crescendo and, having nowhere else to go, exploded at the point where Kroqgar's feet met the ground.

Kakashi fell to the ground, landing lightly and picking himself up. He was barely breathing hard.

In the distance, Kroqgar slowly raised himself from the ground, brushing dirt off his massive frame. Sensei and student regarded one another for a moment. Both decided it was time to end this.

"LIGHTNING BEAST RUNNING JUTSU!"

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

In an instant both fired their techniques, the Kamehameha surging across the earth as Kakashi's lightning hound howled in anticipation.

He wasn't sure, but Kakashi thought that as their techniques were about to collide he saw the head of a great wolf snarling and snapping at his lightning hound from the Kamehameha. As the two attacks met...

...Kakashi's hound was brushed aside like it was nothing.

The Copy Ninja smiled.

Moments before the Kamehameha was about to strike him, he made a handseal, before disappearing with a "poof" to employ Kroqgar's own trick against him.

White shot through the jounin's vision. All he could hear was a high-pitched ringing. Then Kroqgar's voice permeated the haze. "Substitution Jutsu... Essentially a two-way shunshin to swap places with another object, in this case me. Useless against an opponent expecting it."

Kroqgar grinned fiercely as he parroted his sensei, ecstatic to have pulled one over the jounin. If not for the situation the look on his face would have been priceless as the Kakashi clone burst into smoke.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!"

A giant dragon's head formed in the ground in front of him. Opening it's jaws wide, the thing started shooting cannonballs of mud at him, forcing Kroqgar to dodge, duck and roll, weaving in and out of the projectiles. Summoning his glaives once more, he even used them to slice a bullet in half when he couldn't avoid it.

"Earth Style: Double Earth Dragon!"

Looking around quickly, Kroqgar saw no sign of his sensei anywhere. "_Where are you you silver-haired bastard?"_ A pair of dragons rose from the ground on either side of him and streaked towards him.

Kroqgar brain stalled for an instant at a time he really, really didn't want that to happen. _"Kakashi is hidden. Dragons on each side. Earth still being shot at me."_ Time seemed to still for the genin for a moment, as he closed his eyes and thought.

Time sped up. He threw both glaives in front of him, slicing through an approaching earth bullet and embedding themselves deep in the head of the earth dragon, dispelling the jutsu. Kroqgar had looked away the instant the glaives left his hands.

Raising his arms on each side, he pointed his palms at the approaching dragons.

"HAAAAA!"

Focusing intensely, he fired a beam of ki at each dragon, the two attacks meeting on either side of him with a loud _crash_.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!"

Breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his brow, Kroqgar turned and beheld three dragons made of white hot flames rushing towards him. He still couldn't locate Kakashi, and knew that the jounin by now could have moved anywhere.

"_Shame I can't worry about him right now."_

Quickly re-summoning his glaives, he performed what seemed to the spectators a strange maneuver. He held both of them vertically in front of him, and turned them so that the two blades on each weapon were curving in towards their twin, before embedding them both in the ground, creating an oval shape before him, framed by the glaives. Gritting his teeth, Kroqgar forced as much chakra as he could into each of his weapons, and to the keen eyes of those watching an azure haze appeared in the space before him.

A split second later Kakashi's jutsu impacted, the trio of dragons all throwing themselves at Kroqgar. None of them however were able to pass the glaives. Flame splashed out on either side, the ground was blackened all around save for a wedge shape behind Kroqgar, but the shinobi didn't budge an inch.

The assault stopped. Kroqgar dropped to one knee, drained from the effort to withstand Kakashi's attack.

He stiffened slightly as a hand lightly pressed against his back, over his heart. From behind him he heard Kakashi's proud voice say, "Lightning Blade."

* * *

And that's game! Again, I'm sorry that it takes me so long to post these chapters, but I 'spose that's just how I roll. Periods of writing fever interspersed with screw this I want to do something else. In any case, how'd you all like the chapter? Hopefully I made the fights believable, I know they seem a bit strong, but like I've said previously, they're almost complete unknowns so the usual characters don't quite know how to handle them.

I just want to say that I love writing with Kakashi. You can make him do almost any jutsu you want, even if he has never been seen using it. He _has _copied over a thousand jutsu after all.

Dear readers (though pitifully few you are), I have come to a realisation. I can't keep writing this the way I have been, it just makes it harder on both of us. From now on I'm going to start aiming for shorter chapters but try and update more. I want to finish this thing and I'm going to. From now on, expect shorter chapters more frequently. All good? Good.

And I think that's about it. Please remember to review, I love getting ideas from people who want to see something written in the story. Thanks again!

Next time: Less combat, more genin interaction, enter Sasuke and if your lucky the start of a new mission!


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